Another day, another racist moment on Fox News. This time, it came from David Bossie, Donald Trump’s former deputy campaign manager during a segment during a segment on Fox & Friends on Sunday that, ironically, was attempting to call out the left for its “racist rants.”
When Democratic strategist Joel Payne, who is black, criticized the Trump Administration’s racist policies toward migrants, Bossie angrily complained about ex-CIA Director Michael Hayden comparing the child detention centers to a Nazi concentration camp.
When Payne reminded Bossie that Hayden is a Republican, Bossie responded by saying “You’re out of your cotton-picking mind.”
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The antiquated phrase, which was once popularized by Yosemite Sam in numerous Warner Bros. cartoons, easily evokes references to slavery. It’s a phrase that got former Oklahoma City Thunder announcer Brian Davis suspended in April.
Payne immediately called out the “cotton-picking” slur, saying “I got some relatives who picked cotton and I’m not going to sit back and let you attack me on TV like that.”
Twitter immediately took notice.
On Fox News, David Bossie, former Trump Deputy Campaign Manager, telling a black panelist that he’s “out of his cotton-picking mind.” pic.twitter.com/wpoqHKbINw
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) June 24, 2018
Bossie then tried to discredit Payne, objecting to the idea that what he had just said was an attack. Shortly after this, Fox News host Ed Henry ended the segment later saying that “obviously we don’t appreciate some of the language back and forth.”
“I want to make clear that Fox News and this show, myself — we don’t agree with that particular phrase,” Henry continued. “It was obviously offensive and these debates get fiery, that’s unfortunate. We like to have honest and spirited debates, but not phrases like that, obviously.”
Bossie later tweeted an apology to Payne:
During a heated segment on Fox & Friends today, I should have chosen my words more carefully and never used the offensive phrase that I did. I apologize to Joel Payne, Fox News and its viewers.
— David Bossie (@David_Bossie) June 24, 2018
In a statement to New York Magazine, a Fox News spokesperson added that Bossie’s comments “were deeply offensive and wholly inappropriate,” and that they “do not reflect the sentiments of Fox News and we do not in any way condone them.”
That statement doesn’t match up with the conservative network’s history of racist statements and sentiments. This incident comes two days after Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade said, “Like it or not, these aren’t our kids” and adding “it’s not like he’s doing this to the people of Idaho or Texas.”
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It also comes on the heels of another Fox News commentator claiming an unnamed “African-American” told her that detention camps were better than housing projects, along with host Laura Ingraham famously telling LeBron James to “shut up and dribble” earlier this year