Donald Trump Defends Donald Sterling? Calls V. Stiviano A 'Very, Very Bad Girlfriend' Amid Racist Controversy

Donald Trump seems to be defending Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was accused over the weekend of making racially insensitive remarks. Sterling, 80, was allegedly recorded speaking to his girlfriend, V. Stiviano, 31, who is black and Mexican about her interactions with black people.

Trump said about the recordings, “It’s terrible. He got set up by a very, very bad girlfriend, let’s face it,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends.” “She’s called the girlfriend from hell.”

In the extended version of the recordings, Sterling is heard asking Stiviano, in part, "It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people. Do you have to?” He later said, "You can sleep with [black people]. You can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that ...and not to bring them to my games." He was apparently upset after she posted a photo on Instagram of herself alongside NBA legend Magic Johnson.

Trump later called Stiviano a “terrible human being,” and acknowledged that Sterling’s answers were “horrible” and “disgusting,” and suggested he may have mental health issues.

“He could be pretty much out of it in terms of his whole mentality,” Trump said. “The whole thing is so crazy, and the way she led him along — he should know if he were there, if he was with it, he would know after one or two of those questions that she was asking that there is something going on here.”

TMZ released 15 minutes of the audiotapes, which are roughly 1 hour in length, on Friday. Since then, numerous players and athletes have come forward to express their outrage. Even President Obama has weighed in on the situation. After being asked about Sterling’s comments while in Malaysia for his diplomatic mission, Obama said, in part, "When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't really have to do anything. You just let them talk. That's what happened here.”