Donald Trump's campaign hired a racist staffer, fired him, then lied about the whole thing

(Image credit: Matthew Busch/Getty Images)

published 5 August 2015

Donald Trump's presidential campaign appears to have ended relations with their Arizona-based director, Aaron Borders, following an inquiry from BuzzFeed News about Borders' Islamophobic and racist Facebook posts. Trump's campaign then told BuzzFeed in a statement that Borders had never been connected to the campaign at all.

In tapes provided to BuzzFeed by Borders, Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, is recorded hiring Borders. Later tapes, recorded after BuzzFeed's inquiry into Borders' posts, reveal Lewandowski firing Borders and threatening to "sue your f--king ass to next year."

"It's just not something we do," Lewandowski said to Borders in the recordings, referring to him as "staff." "We don't have staff stories and we don't have staff in stories about things... We'll just tell BuzzFeed that there's no formal relationship, that you're an overzealous volunteer, and that you're not part of the campaign in any way shape or form, regardless of what the story says.""I just can't have this, it's a problem. It's just no good. It's negative publicity on staff. I just can't have it," he concluded.This exchange matched the wording of an email from Trump's campaign spokesperson, Hope Hicks, who promptly replied to a request for comment by writing that "we do not have a state director in AZ. I've never heard of Aaron, but he appears to be an over-zealous volunteer. Let me know if you need anything else." [BuzzFeed]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.