President Donald Trump accused Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel of "pulling out the race card" because the other side is "losing badly" after the comedian thanked him for making the ceremony look more inclusive.
The president stayed silent during the star-studded ceremony on Sunday night, failing to reply to the goading tweets Kimmel sent him during the broadcast.
In his opening monologue, the talk show host said: "Maybe this is not a popular thing to say, but I want to say thank you to Donald Trump. I mean, remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist? It's gone. Thanks to him!"
But during an interview with US show Fox & Friends, which is due to air later today, Mr Trump said: "Look, it just seems like the other side, whenever they're losing badly, they always pull out the race card," Deadline reported.
He added: "I've watched it for years. I watched it against Ronald Reagan, I've watched it against so many other people. And they always like pulling out the race card.
"In fact, I did much better than many other... Republicans in the last election. I did much better with Hispanics, I did much better with African Americans."
Mr Trump also accused the ceremony of focusing too much on politics, which he said led to the chaos surrounding the announcement of the best picture winner.
He told Breitbart News, the conservative news organisation that used to be run by his key adviser Steve Bannon: "I think they were focused so hard on politics that they didn't get the act together at the end.
"It was a little sad. It took away from the glamour of the Oscars. It didn't feel like a very glamorous evening.
"I've been to the Oscars. There was something very special missing, and then to end that way was sad."
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