Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Monday suggested that Democrats had exposed NBA basketball team owner Don Sterling as a racist because he had not given President Barack Obama "enough money."

The gossip website TMZ on Saturday posted audio of the LA Clippers owner allegedly telling his girlfriend not to embarrass him by bringing black friends to basketball games.

"This is not news to anybody who has known of this guy," Limbaugh announced on Monday. "This guy's a big Democrat. The only reason he's in trouble right now is he did not give enough money to Obama."

"All of this shock and outrage, it's as phony as you can believe," he continued. "It's been known. They guy gave money to [former Democratic California Gov.] Grey Davis. The guy gave money to [former Democratic U.S. Sen.] Bill Bradley. He's been donating to Democrat causes, doing what you do in Beverly Hills and LA to be in the A-list crowd."

After the news of the racist rants broke over the weekend, conservative outlets like Fox Nation, the Daily Caller, NewsBusters and Drudge Report owner Matt Drudge all raced to insist that Sterling was a Democrat.

Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik, however, pointed out on Monday that Sterling was registered as a Republican.

(h/t: Media Matters)