Cliven Bundy. Getty Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher around whom some Republicans and conservative activists have rallied in a high-profile fight against the federal government, made disparaging comments about African-Americans in an interview with The New York Times published Thursday.

Bundy wondered if African-Americans might have been "better off" as slaves, referring to them as "the Negro."

From The Times' Adam Nagourney:

“I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro,” he said. Mr. Bundy recalled driving past a public-housing project in North Las Vegas, “and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids — and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch — they didn’t have nothing to do. They didn’t have nothing for their kids to do. They didn’t have nothing for their young girls to do.

“And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?” he asked. “They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”

Bundy's recent standoff with the federal government exploded on the national scene as activists flocked to his ranch to support him.

Bundy's fight with the federal Bureau of Land Management dates to 1993 when the BLM eliminated livestock grazing in the area, citing the protection of an endangered tortoise species. That was when Bundy decided to stop paying grazing fees. Now, the agency says he owes more than $1.2 million. A federal judge first ruled in 1998 that Bundy was trespassing on federal land. Last year, a federal judge ruled the agency could remove the cattle.

The BLM, among others, says Bundy is breaking the law. Bundy says the land is his property, and he has accused the federal government of being overreaching and oppressive.

Bundy's case has won support from prominent national conservatives, including Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Dean Heller of Nevada. In a statement provided by a spokesman for Paul to Business Insider on Thursday, Paul denounced Bundy's comments.

"His remarks on race are offensive and I wholeheartedly disagree with him," Paul said.

Heller also immediately distanced himself from Bundy's new controversial remarks.

"Senator Heller completely disagrees with Mr. Bundy’s appalling and racist statements, and condemns them in the most strenuous way," spokesman Chandler Smith said in an email.

UPDATE: The liberal watchdog group Media Matters has posted video of his comments: