Boortz claimed McKinney "looked like a welfare drag queen"; predicted "Media Matters will pick up on that"

Summary: Declaring that "Media Matters will pick up on that," radio host Neal Boortz said of Rep. Cynthia McKinney, "I don't blame that cop for stopping her" because "it looked like a welfare drag queen was trying to sneak into the Longworth House Office Building."

Referring to Rep. Cynthia McKinney's (D-GA) March 29 altercation with a Capitol Police officer, Neal Boortz attacked McKinney's physical appearance on the March 31 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, stating, "I don't blame that cop for stopping her" because "it looked like a welfare drag queen was trying to sneak into the Longworth House Office Building." He added: "That haircut is ghetto trash." Boortz said he was "absolutely privileged and entitled" to make his comments, based not on his "white privilege," but on his "bald privilege," saying, "I've been enduring jokes about my lack of hair for years," so "I am privileged and entitled to say anything I want about anybody else's hairdo." Boortz then predicted, "Media Matters [for America] will pick up that one," and declared: "[T]hat's why I do things like that, just to give them something to write about." As Media Matters noted, earlier on his program, Boortz had said that McKinney "looks like a ghetto slut."

From the March 31 broadcast of Cox Radio Syndication's The Neal Boortz Show:

BOORTZ: OK. Now, I'm going to repeat something that I said a little bit earlier. I've been enduring jokes about my lack of hair for years, so I am absolutely privileged and entitled. This is not white privilege, this is bald privilege. I am privileged and entitled to say anything I want about anybody else's hairdo.

I saw Cynthia McKinney's hairdo yesterday -- saw it on TV. I don't blame that cop for stopping her. It looked like a welfare drag queen was trying to sneak into the Longworth House Office Building. That hairdo is ghetto trash. I don't blame them for stopping her. Now, let's see if Media Matters will pick up on that one. "Boortz calls McKinney welfare drag queen." [laughs] So, well, that's why I do things like that, just to give them something to write about.

—B.F.