Veteran political consultant and former Donald Trump adviser Roger Stone said there’s a reason he calls CNN the “Clinton News Network,” in an interview with The Daily Caller Tuesday.
“I heard from Media Matters. I’ve never heard from CNN, and they’ve never ever complained,” said Stone.
Media Matters announced Tuesday that it it received a statement from CNN that Stone will be banned from appearing on the network due to tweets featuring disparaging comments toward TV political analysts Ana Navarro and Roland Martin.
Stone called Navarro a “diva bitch,” and “borderline retarded.” He said Martin was a “stupid negro,” and called both of them “quota hires.”
He generally stands by his criticism of the two, saying, “My problem really is the same, whether it’s Roland Martin or Ana Navarro: why do we have people who have no qualification whatsoever to opine on political matters being asked their opinion?”
Stone continued, “Ana is a ‘Republican strategist?’ OK, what campaigns? Who are the people she’s elected? Name them. City council, county commission, governor, senator, congressman, president, anybody? And the answer is nobody.”
“Look, I’ve admittedly done and said many controversial things. But, I’m also a veteran of nine Republican presidential campaigns, and I’ve helped elect three Republican presidents, and I have a unique perspective on the current Republican front-runner. What is her credential? Other than being a Hispanic woman, what is her credential?” said Stone.
He believes her current role at CNN is a form of “casting,” due to her being a Hispanic woman. “She’s not their because of her intelligence. She’s not there because of her experience. She doesn’t know her ass from her elbow.”
Stone was involved as a top adviser in Donald Trump’s presidential bid until he quit in August. He wrote in a resignation letter, “Unfortunately, the current controversies involving personalities and provocative media fights have reached such a high volume that it has distracted attention from your platform and overwhelmed your core message.”
The veteran political consultant certainly has a unique perspective on Trump and said that the hype behind [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore] isn’t completely unfounded.
“He’s there because he managed to finish second in the last two contests and he bounced back from a bad debate performance, so he’s earned where he is.” The veteran political consultant added, “I think he’s being pushed because he’s not Trump. Not because he’s Cuban-American.”
Stone still doesn’t think that Trump should be worried about Rubio, saying, “Look, there’s a giant gap here in terms of stature. Donald Trump has built a billion-dollar company, he has the gravitas and the experience and the potential to be president. Marco Rubio is a promising young guy, but one does not become an expert in foreign policy by sitting in committee meetings in Washington.”
He added, “what has [Rubio] ever built? What has [Rubio] ever run?”
Stone claims that there isn’t much planning involved for The Donald, he is very much living in the moment. (OPINION: Donald Trump Is A Political Genius For The Ages)
When asked about who Trump is thinking about for vice president, Stone replied nobody. “People presuppose that he’s diabolical, he’s just not like that, I think right now he’s focused on Nevada and will be until the polls close. And then tomorrow he’ll focus on the next round of primaries.” He added, “I don’t think he’s thought that far ahead nor does he have to.”
Stone recalled a conversation with Trump in the lead up the debates, “When I asked how he’d do in the debates. He said ‘I don’t know, I’ve never been in one before. Let’s see how it goes.’ I think he’s very in the moment.”
Due to Trump’s confidence, Stone doesn’t think the New York real estate developer is surprised with his success. He said, “It’s absolutely true that his wife said many times, including in my presence, ‘Donald if you run you’ll win.'”
While Trump might not be thinking so far ahead, Stone let TheDC know how he thinks Trump would try to gain the black vote, and how he would beat Bernie Sanders as an opponent.
The Donald has previously said that he’s going to win large support from black voters and Stone said his message should be entirely aspirational.
“Trump personifies success. What African Americans want is a piece of the pie, they want part of the American Dream. They don’t want to be employees, they want to be employers,” Stone said to the Caller.
While both Sanders and Trump share the base of white working class people, he doesn’t think the Vermont senator would be a tough opponent in the fall for two reasons.
Stone said, “I don’t think the American people are going to like an 85 percent tax rate. And frankly, Bernie’s been on the Veteran Affairs committee, he’s a ranking member, for thirty years. How are veterans doing in this country?”
“I would pin him with that. Every where he goes, I would have him picketed by angry veterans. ‘You Bernie, you responsible.’ By the way when all those veterans died in VA hospitals and they covered all that up, and nobody was held responsible, where was Bernie? Where was Bernie?”
Roger Stone was calling on his way to Little Rock, where he will be hosting a signing “literally feet away from the Clinton Library” for his recent book “The Clintons’ War On Women.”