Black Church Coalition Calls for Al Sharpton To Be Suspended From MSNBC Over ‘Moral Stain’ of Taking Money from Harris Campaign
Screenshot via MSNBC
A coalition of Black churches are calling for Al Sharpton to be suspended from MSNBC until an investigation is complete over payments he received from Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign.
The Harris campaign made two separate $250,000 donations to Sharpton’s National Action Network just ahead of Sharpton sitting down for an interview with the then-presidential candidate. The network previously said they were unaware of the payments. The donations were part of a flurry of payments to various groups for the campaign in a get out the vote effort for the election.
The National Black Church Initiative, which represents more than 150,000 churches and 27.7 million members, released a statement this week calling for Sharpton’s suspension until an investigation into the matter is completed.
“This type of action puts a moral stain on the integrity of the Black Church,” the group wrote.
The statement was released on Tuesday through Facebook and first covered by the Washington Free Beacon on Thursday.
“In all the talk about the threat to our democracy, someone forgot to articulate that free, open, objective, and transparent press is an essential component of the building blocks to preserve our democracy’s integrity,” the Free Beacon reported.
The president of the group, Rev. Anthony Evans, wrote that Sharpton is “loved and admired” by many members, but added there are ethics concerns over the latest news involving Sharpton. The activist appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Thursday, but he has not addressed the controversy.
“Rev. Sharpton is loved and admired by many in our coalition, but that does [not] take away from the fact he is facing significant moral and journalism ethics [concerns] regarding this payment or donation to the National Action Network,” Evans wrote, adding members will continue to “pray for” Sharpton.
