Roger Stone hurls racial slur at Black radio host on air when grilled over his close friendship with Trump
Republican political consultant Roger Stone, in a conversation with Black radio host Morris W O'Kelly, on Saturday, July 18, appeared to use the N-word at the host. O'Kelly, during the 30-minute discussion with Stone, asked him about why he thought he was pardoned by President Donald Trump, suggesting that it was because of his friendship with the Republican leader he was released.
The 68-year-old consultant was set to be imprisoned on July 14 to begin his 40-month sentence for obstructing the congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump, however, commuted his prison sentence on July 10, receiving heavy backlash.
O'Kelly said: "I do believe that certain people are treated differently in the federal justice system. I do absolutely believe that. But I also believe that your friendship and relationship and history with Donald Trump weighed more heavily than him just wanting to make sure that justice was done by a person in the justice system, that you were treated so unfairly."
"There are thousands of people treated unfairly daily," the host added. "Hell, your number just happened to come up in the lottery. I'm guessing it was more than just luck, Roger, right?"
There was a pause from Stone's side and someone who sounded like him could be heard telling someone else on the other end: "I don't really feel like arguing with this [N-word]." O'Kelly was shocked with the statement and responded saying: "I'm sorry, what was that? Roger? I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"I hear that the line is not dead," the host said, as the silence on the other end continued. After nearly 40 seconds of silence, Stone suddenly appeared an O'Kelly resumed the conversation.
"I was talking and you said something about [N-word] so I wasn't exactly sure," O'Kelly said. To which Stone replied with: "I did not. You're out of your mind." The Republican then continued to dismiss the accusation with an exasperated "whatever." "You keep going in and out. Is there a cellphone issue? I lose you, there's a lot going on here," Stone added.
O'Kelly, after the interview finished, explained to his listeners why he continued with the conversation despite hearing the slur. "I'm still processing," the host, who sounded shaken, said.
"My job as I see it, was to keep Roger Stone on the phone," he added. "My job was to keep him talking for your benefit," he told listeners. "The only thing that I felt was true, honest, and sincere that Roger Stone said was in that moment when he felt I was not listening. As far as he was concerned, he was talking and arguing with a n***o."
The radio host later posted about the incident on his blog, writing: "Stone offered an unfiltered, unvarnished, one-sentence expression of how he saw the journalist interviewing him. He didn’t see me as a journalist, not as a professional, not a radio host…but a “N***o” first and foremost. Thirty years as an entertainment professional, twenty of them in radio. 'N***o' was the first pejorative uttered. The low-calorie version of the N-Word."
"The audio is, what it is and it’s mine. The subsequent conclusions are yours," O'Kelly added.
Stone, in a statement later, denied using the slur word, despite it being recorded on live radio. He told the Daily Beast: "Categorically false. Seems obvious that Kelly seeks to boost his pathetic ratings with a fabricated claim. Anyone who is aware of my 30 years of opposition to the racist war on drugs will realize how fabricated this is. Now I challenge you to use my entire quote."