Donald Trump surrogate Roger Stone learned Tuesday that he was banned from MSNBC. The network didn’t call him. They told him via Media Matters, the media organization that lobbied to have him banned from CNN, the other network that recently banned him after he compared Ana Navarro‘s intelligence to “dog shit.”
Stone didn’t sound particularly troubled by the news.
“It smacks of Soviet-style censorship,” Stone told The Mirror by phone. (Full disclosure: Stone is the Men’s Fashion Editor for The Daily Caller.) “You know, I advocate for the candidacy of Donald Trump and oppose the big steal in Cleveland. I’ve never heard formally from MSNBC. I’m a source for a number of MSNBC reporters on a regular basis. I’m perplexed.”
But he’s not totally surprised.
“Liberals like free speech as long as it’s theirs,” he said. “I’ve never heard from them [MSNBC] formally. As you know, I was banned at CNN. Media Matters lobbied to have me banned. It’s inappropriate for a news organization to fold from pressure from a political group. It’s unheard of.”
Stone acknowledges that he is not always politically correct.
“Yes, I have said some intolerant things, but they haven’t been racist,” he said. “I’ve never used the N-word for example.”
(He has called TV One’s Roland Martin a “stupid negro” and a “fat negro.”)
Navarro may not want to use Stone as a reference anytime soon.
“Ana Navarro is still not qualified to opine on politics,” he said. “Nothing in her life experience…she literally knows nothing. But on top of it, she’s abusive. The makeup people, the hairstylists, the technical people. And no, I’m not going to stop calling her out. Very self-important for someone who has never accomplished anything in American politics.”
As for calling her a “rabid Pekinese,” Stone did walk that back. “As a dog lover, I regret that,” he said.
Stone has no ill will toward MSNBC. He gushed about a lot of the anchors.
“I really like Ari Melber,” he said. “I’m a fan of Rachel Maddow. I don’t agree with her, but I think she’s great. I think they’re left of center, but I think they do a good job. I’m a watcher, frankly. I like Chris Hayes. I think they’re talented. I respect their opinions.”
But he doesn’t respect how they handled this.
“At least have the courage and tell me I’m banned and why,” he said. “Because I’m politically incorrect? What is it they fear?”
Stone isn’t exactly worried that his phone will stop ringing.
“I was on Fox & Friends Sunday, Fox Business Network yesterday,” he said. “I’ll be on Infowars.com tomorrow where P.S. more people will see me than on MSNBC. Good old MSNBC.”
