Conservatives denounced MSNBC after host Rev. Al Sharpton accepted $500,000 from Kamala Harris’ campaign weeks before a buzzy interview.
Sharpton’s conversation with the vice president last month drew criticism for his softball questions, with the conservative Washington free beacon releasing campaign finance records claiming his nonprofit was paid handsomely before the appearance.
Billionaire hedge fund manager and Trump supporter Bill Ackman led the charge, telling Megyn Kelly on her show this week that the payments were an attempt “to manipulate the public.”
Another critic on X wondered, “Aren’t political campaigns supposed to raise donations?”
Harris’ campaign reportedly made two $250,000 payments to Sharpton’s National Action Network on September 5 and October 1.
And on October 20, Sharpton praised Harris’s “extraordinary historic campaign” in a vibrant interview, and labeled Donald Trump as “hostile and erratic.”
MSNBC has remained silent on the payment, despite the fact that Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough was suspended in 2010 for donating $4,000 in campaign donations.
MSNBC host Al Sharpton sparked backlash after his nonprofit reportedly received $500,000 from Kamala Harris’ campaign shortly before he interviewed her last month (pictured)
Sharpton’s conversation with the vice president (pictured attending the memorial together in May 2022) drew criticism for his softball questioning
The payments to Sharpton’s organization came as part of a $5.4 million fund that the Harris campaign distributed to black and Hispanic advocacy groups, ostensibly to bolster her candidacy among minority voters.
However, this move backfired spectacularly as Harris struggled with key demographics, including losing seven percent of Hispanic voters and eight percent of Black voters compared to Joe Biden’s 2020 totals.
After the payments to Sharpton came to light, the scandal led to claims of favoritism and a clear lack of impartiality on Sharpton’s part that began even before his interview with Harris.
On October 3, two days after her campaign’s second payment, Sharpton shared a clip on his MSNBC show of Harris wishing him a happy birthday, where she referred to him by his nickname “Rev.”
“You have been such an extraordinary leader all your years. You have been a voice of truth, a voice of conscience,” the vice president told him.
Two weeks later, Sharpton’s interview with Harris followed the same positive theme, with the Washington Free Beacon observing that his “questions closely aligned with the messages Harris wanted to highlight during his campaign.”
This included Sharpton appealing to Shirley Chisolm, the first black woman elected to Congress, in reference to Harris’ “historic” candidacy.
Sharpton was also criticized in the interview for questioning whether men who did not support Harris were driven by “misogyny.”
MSNBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the payments.
Former Congressman John Linder led the charge by condemning the payments to Sharpton’s nonprofit and labeling his interview with Harris a “campaign commercial.”
“This requires a disclaimer that it was approved and paid for by the Harris campaign,” he wrote.
“Let’s see how the FEX handles all the celebrities who got paid for their endorsements.”
Another
“More people started to see through the nonsense,” they said.
“Apparently the Harris groundswell of ‘energetic’ support was driven by lots of cash.”
It comes as questions have been raised about how the Harris campaign managed to raise more than $1 billion in the few months of her doomed candidacy, creating a $20 million debt burden.
This included paying a six-figure sum to create a set for Harris’s ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast interview, and $1 million to Oprah’s production company.