Roger Stone, the political operative whose 40-month prison sentence was commuted by Donald Trump, his longtime friend, used a racial slur on air while verbally sparring with a Los Angeles-based black radio host.
The exchange occurred on Saturday’s Mo’Kelly Show, as host Morris O’Kelley grilled Stone on his conviction for lying to Congress, tampering with witnesses and obstructing the House investigation into whether Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election.
“Stone could have reached for any pejorative, but unfortunately went there,” O’Kelley said, adding: “Stone offered an unfiltered, unvarnished one-sentence expression of how he saw the journalist interviewing him.”
O’Kelley characterized “negro”, the word Stone used, as the “low-calorie version of the n-word”.
Stone’s attorney said he was unaware of the broadcast and had no immediate comment.
Stone was sentenced to 40 months in prison, but Trump commuted that sentence on 10 July, days before Stone was to report for detention.
Amid widespread condemnation, Republican senator Mitt Romney memorably lamented an instance of “unprecedented, historic corruption”.
As O’Kelley asserted that Stone was given his commutation because of his friendship with Trump, Stone’s voice went faint. But he could be heard uttering that he was “arguing with this negro”.
O’Kelley asked Stone to repeat the comment. Stone went momentarily silent.
The radio program transcribed his complete sentence as: “I can’t believe I’m arguing with this negro.”
O’Kelley persisted.
“I’m sorry you’re arguing with whom? I thought we were just having a spirited conversation. What happened? You said something about ‘negro’.”
Stone said he had not, adding: “You’re out of your mind.”
The interview continued. Stone said the president acted out of compassion and the jury that weighed his case was tainted.
“I did not get a fair trial,” he said.
“My life was in imminent danger,” Stone added, saying he was at risk of being infected by the coronavirus in prison. “I think the president did this as an act of compassion. He did it as an act of mercy.”
