Donald Trump picked the wrong time to open his mouth in talking about L.A. Clippers Owner Donald Sterling in the wake of Mr. Sterling’s recorded racist rants to his girlfriend that was posted at TMZ.com last Saturday.
I was all set to blast “The Donald” for allegedly coming to Sterling’s defense, but the fact’s don’t support that he did. You can’t read what others wrote, you must watch the video.
Donald Trump got on Fox & Friends Monday morning, and while he said that what Donald Sterling said to his girlfriend was “horrible” and “disgusting” Mr. Trump was depicted as having stood up for fellow aggrieved billionaire Republican Donald Sterling, and because he said that the Los Angeles Clippers owner was “set up by a very, very bad girlfriend.” Here he is:
Not surprisingly, people on social media, particularly Twitter, rose up against The Donald:
Who said it: Donald Trump or Donald Sterling? It’s a Who’s Who of racist, disgusting scumbaggary! (Via @michaelcummo) http://t.co/HEIi6BQujQ
— Cole Chapman (@ColeLChapman) April 29, 2014
To Nobody’s Surprise, Donald Trump Goes On Fox News And Defends Racist Donald Sterling http://t.co/YVU2V5vTbk
— Djelloul Marbrook (@DelMarbrook) April 29, 2014
“Once I saw that Donald Trump was defending me, I knew I had done something horribly wrong.” Sterling Apologizes http://t.co/BLucStyRrs
— Nicole Blades (@NicoleBlades) April 29, 2014
Donald Trump is a jackass. “Donald Trump says Donald Sterling was ‘set up’ by his girlfriend” http://t.co/M12EmwbTsW via @forthewin
— Troy Westwood (@TroyWestwood) April 29, 2014
That episode invites the formation of a new social media rule that Donald Trump should follow: when a public issue involves racism or sexism and is already hot in social media and in Internet search, a public figure who’s perceived as being racist and sexist should, if they care about public opinion, either say nothing, or if they something, make sure it’s just simply an attack on the person or person’s who’s accused.
What Donald Trump did was try and shoot the messenger at the same time he was attacking Donald Sterling’s comments. Trump never came to Donald Sterling’s defense of what the L.A. Clippers Owner said, but in saying that she was a “bad girlfriend”, Trump, who’s perceived as racist by some, opened himself up to new attacks.
And it came at a time when “Donald Sterling” was more searched than “Miley Cyrus”:
Obviously, by his Twitter tweet, Donald doesn’t get how his public persona causes such reaction:
It is amazing that after lambasting Donald Sterling on @foxandfriends, some DISHONEST press only reported my GIRLFRIEND FROM HELL statement!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 29, 2014
Stay tuned.
Bill Carroll