You turn to us for voices you won't hear anywhere else.

Sign up for Democracy Now!'s Daily Digest to get our latest headlines and stories delivered to your inbox every day.

Ex-Trump Campaign Staffer Tells Black Democrat, “You’re Out of Your Cotton-Picking Mind”

HeadlineJun 25, 2018

Fox News commentator David Bossie, a former deputy Trump campaign manager who also served as part of Trump’s transition team, has been forced to apologize, after he told African-American Democratic strategist Joel Payne, “You’re out of your cotton-picking mind.” This is Bossie, speaking on “Fox & Friends” Sunday.

David Bossie: “Michael Hayden posted a picture of Auschwitz. Don Deutsch is talking—”

Joel Payne: “Yeah, that liberal–that liberal, Michael Hayden.”

David Bossie: “Well, look, you’re out of your—”

Joel Payne: “Yeah, that screaming liberal, Michael Hayden”

David Bossie: “You’re out of your cotton-picking mind. You don’t—”

Joel Payne: “Cotton-picking mind? Brother, let me tell you something.”

David Bossie: “Listen, you guys—you guys—you guys are—”

Joel Payne: “Let me tell you something. I’ve got some—I’ve got some—”

David Bossie: “You guys are out of your minds.”

Ed Henry: “All right.”

Joel Payne: “I’ve got some relatives who picked cotton.”

David Bossie: “This is—this is ridiculous.

Ed Henry: “OK.”

David Bossie: “This is ridiculous. You guys want to—”

Joel Payne: “And I’m not going to sit here and allow you to attack me like that on TV.”

After widespread outrage, both Fox News and Bossie were forced to apologize. Bossie is the author of “Let Trump Be Trump: The Inside Story of His Rise to the Presidency.”

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top