Fox News is distancing itself from a racist remark made by one of its paid commentators on Sunday. 
 
 The commentator, David Bossie, was arguing on "Fox & Friends" with Democratic strategist Joel Payne, who is black. He told Payne, "you're out of your cotton-picking mind." 
 
 Payne was stunned by the remark. He told Bossie he had "some relatives who picked cotton, and I'm not going to sit back and let you attack me on TV like that." 
 
 Bossie, a veteran conservative activist, was a deputy campaign manager on the Trump campaign. He also served as a deputy director of Trump's transition team. He joined Fox News in February 2017. 
 
 Fox declined to comment on whether Bossie would be suspended in the wake of the on-air controversy. 
 
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 But in a statement, a Fox News spokesperson said "David Bossie's comments today were deeply offensive and wholly inappropriate. His remarks do not reflect the sentiments of Fox News and we do not in any way condone them." 
 
 Payne, appearing on MSNBC later in the day, said he had a "terse" exchange with Bossie immediately after the Fox News panel. He expressed "some regret," Payne said. 
 
 Four and a half hours after the TV segment, Bossie tweeted an apology. 
 
 "During a heated segment on 'Fox & Friends' today, I should have chosen my words more carefully and never used the offensive phrase that I did," he wrote. "I apologize to Joel Payne, Fox News and its viewers." 
 
 Payne said during his MSNBC interview that he accepted the apology in Bossie's tweet, but said his comments have prompted "frustration" among minorities. 
 
 "My namesake is my great-grandfather, who was a sharecropper," he said. "I took that very personally." 
 
 "Our family and people like us have worked very hard to come up over the years. And so, to have someone kind of reduce our experience and try to make light of that experience — which I imagine Mr. Bossie was doing — that was offensive and that was unacceptable to me," Payne said. 
 
 The banner on screen during the Fox News segment said "PUNDITS CALL TRUMP SUPPORTERS RACIST, NAZIS." The segment was supposed to be all about heated rhetoric. 
 
 After the "cotton picking" comment, Bossie again said to Payne, "You're out of your mind." 
 
 "Let's end it on a civil note," host Ed Henry said. 
 
 He moved on, but came back after a break to "address what just happened." 
 
 "I want to make clear Fox News and this show, myself, we don't agree with that particular phrase," Henry said. "It was obviously offensive, and these debates get fiery. That's unfortunate." 

 President Trump Donald John TrumpPruitt put ally in charge of EPA office overseeing key records requests: report Scotland wind farm opposed by Trump generates first power Trump: Supreme Court pick will be a 'home run' MORE’s former deputy campaign manager, David Bossie, told a black Democratic strategist appearing on “Fox & Friends” on Sunday that he’s out of his "cotton-picking mind.” 
 
 Bossie and strategist Joel Payne got into a heated exchange about the rhetoric used in debating immigration and other issues during a discussion moderated by Fox News host Ed Henry. 
 
 The men were discussing former CIA Director Michael Hayden posting a photo of Auschwitz in reference to the Trump administration’s since-ended policy of separating immigrant families at the border when Bossie made the comment. 
 
 On Fox News, David Bossie, former Trump Deputy Campaign Manager, telling a black panelist that he's "out of his cotton-picking mind." pic.twitter.com/wpoqHKbINw — Yashar Ali (@yashar) June 24, 2018 
 
 “That liberal Michael Hayden, that screaming liberal Michael Hayden,” Payne said. 
 
 “You’re out of your cotton-picking mind,” Bossie replied. 
 
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 “Cotton-picking mind?” Payne interjected. “Brother, let me tell you something, I got some relatives who picked cotton and I’m not going to sit back and let you attack me on TV like that.” 
 
 “Attack you how? You’re out of your mind,” Bossie said. 
 
 “This is ridiculous, this is what’s gone on in America,” he continued. “This is what we’re about.” 
 
 Henry said after a commercial break that “Bossie used a phrase that clearly offended Joel Payne and offended many others.” Henry added that he didn’t know what Bossie meant by the phrase. 
 
 “But I want to make sure that Fox News and this show, myself, we don’t agree with that particular phrase,” Henry said. “It was obviously offensive and these debates get fiery, that’s unfortunate. We like to have honest and spirited debates, but not phrases like that, obviously.” 
 
 Bossie later apologized for the comment in a tweet, saying he should have "never used the offensive phrase that I did." 
 
 In a statement to The Hill, a Fox News spokesperson called Bossie's remarks "deeply offensive and wholly inappropriate." 
 
 "David Bossie’s comments today were deeply offensive and wholly inappropriate," the statement said. "His remarks do not reflect the sentiments of FOX News and we do not in any way condone them." 
 
 During a heated segment on Fox & Friends today, I should have chosen my words more carefully and never used the offensive phrase that I did. I apologize to Joel Payne, Fox News and its viewers. — David Bossie (@David_Bossie) June 24, 2018 
 
 --Updated 2:05 p.m.
– A white Fox News paid commentator who is also an outside adviser to President Trump has found himself in hot water after a tense back-and-forth with a fellow guest on "Fox & Friends" Sunday that culminated with the use of a racist slur. "You're out of your cotton-picking mind," David Bossie told Democratic strategist Joel Payne, who is black. The reference to slavery-era plantation work went about as well as could be expected as CNN points out that Payne told Bossie he had "some relatives who picked cotton, and I'm not going to sit back and let you attack me on TV like that." Following a commercial break, Fox host and the day's moderator Ed Henry addressed the turn of events, per The Hill. "Bossie used a phrase that clearly offended Joel Payne and offended many others.” Henry said before distancing himself and his network from the comments. "I want to make sure that Fox News and this show, myself, we don’t agree with that particular phrase." Taking to Twitter following the exchange, Bossie also apologized. "During a heated segment on Fox & Friends today, I should have chosen my words more carefully and never used the offensive phrase that I did. I apologize to Joel Payne, Fox News and its viewers."