Radio host says Roger Stone used 'the diet version of the n-word' on his show

During a live interview on The Mo'Kelly Show conducted Saturday night, political operative Roger Stone seemingly says about host Morris O'Kelly, "I don't feel like arguing with this Negro."

Stone, who was found guilty of witness tampering and lying to Congress, had his sentence commuted earlier this month by President Trump. Stone and Trump are old friends, and O'Kelly, who is Black, alluded to this when he said to Stone: "There are thousands of people treated unfairly daily. How your number just happened to come up in the lottery — I am guessing it was more than just luck, Roger, right?"

Stone called into the show, and at this point, it sounded like he muttered something about "arguing with this Negro." O'Kelly asked Stone to repeat himself, but he didn't say anything for about 40 seconds, acting as if he had lost connection. Stone then denied using the term, telling O'Kelly, "You're out of your mind."

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In a text message to The New York Times on Sunday, Stone said that on the recording, "somebody can very clearly be heard using the alleged [epithet]" but "at no time did I call [O'Kelly] a Negro. That said, Mr. O'Kelly needs to spend a little more time studying Black history and institutions," as the word is "far from a slur." It was a commonly used term through the 1960s, but for the last several decades has been considered offensive.

Stone claimed that his sound feed was cut off three times, but O'Kelly told the Times there were no technical issues. The term Negro is "the diet version of the n-word, but as an African American man, it's something I deal with pretty frequently," O'Kelly said. "If there's a takeaway from the conversation, it is that Roger Stone gave an unvarnished look into what is in the heart of many Americans today."