Donald Trump Weighs in on #OscarsSoWhite, Responds to Stacey Dash BET Comments

Donald Trump has stirred up more controversy surrounding the #OscarsSoWhite debate on Wednesday, speaking to the Fox & Friends team about the call for a boycott. 

Trump, who called into the show to talk about Sarah Palin’s endorsement, also commented on Al Sharpton’s recent comments about Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith deciding not to attend the ceremony 

“I think it’s a tough situation,” Trump said. “I think it’s really sad and Al [Sharpton] is just a guy who wants to get publicity for himself and I understand him very well.”

In response to an earlier interview with Fox News contributor and actress Stacey Dash, he asked: “What do we do with BET? Black entertainment. The whites don’t get any nominations. I never even thought of it from that standpoint.”

Trump did offer an optimistic view for future awards, however, saying that it “would certainly be nice if everyone could be represented properly. And hopefully that’s the case, but perhaps it’s not the case.”

Earlier in the episode, Dash suggested to Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy that awards shows present a “double standard,” questioning the existence of the BET channel and the celebration of Black History Month. “We’re Americans, period.”

Doocy asked Dash about Smith and Lee’s boycotting the Oscars this year over the lack of diversity and Dash called it “ludicrous,” referring to other awards shows that, in her opinion, shut out white actors. 

“We have to make up our minds — either we want to have segregation or integration,” Dash said. “And if we don’t want segregation, then we have to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the Image Awards, where you’re only awarded if you’re black. If it were the other way around, we would be up in arms. It’s a double standard.”

She did tell Doocy that she agrees “there needs to be more diverse people in the process of electing in the Academy.”

BET tweeted back at the actress Wednesday afternoon, calling her “clueless” in her statements (a reference to the hit 1995 movie of the same name, in which she starred).

Every Time Stacey Dash Proved She Was Clueless: https://t.co/mto8DSxVhe pic.twitter.com/NBDorO6Jna

— BET (@BET) January 20, 2016

Watch the full interviews below: