Donald Trump fiercely defended his housing anti-discrimination record Monday, pushing back at Hillary Clinton's reference to Justice Department discrimination lawsuits against Trump's real estate company 43 years ago – saying the suits were settled with "zero" admission of guilt.
At the first presidential debate, Trump said the federal discrimination lawsuits in 1973 involved "many, many other companies throughout the country."
"When I was very young, I went into my father's company," Trump said. "And we, along with many, many other companies throughout the country, were sued. We settled the suit with no admission of guilt. Zero."
"I'll go one step further," he added.
"In Palm Beach, Florida . . . I opened a club, and really got great credit for it. No discrimination against African-Americans, against Muslims, against anybody. And it's a tremendously successful club, and I'm so glad I did it, and I have been given great credit for what I did. And I'm very, very proud of it. And that's the way I feel. That is the true way I feel."
Clinton had accused the GOP nominee of having "a long record of engaging in racist behavior."
"He started his career back in 1973, being sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination," she argued. "Because he would not rent apartments in one of his developments to African-Americans, and he made sure that the people who worked for him understood that was the policy."