A black church coalition is backtracking on its call for MSNBC to suspend and investigate the case Rev. Al Sharpton after his nonprofit accepted $500,000 in donations from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign.
A week after writing that Sharpton’s actions placed a “moral stain on the integrity of the Black Church,” the National Black Church Initiative reversed course, calling his earlier statement “inappropriate” and saying it regretted the “misstep” .
The The free beacon of Washington announced the news that the Harris campaign had made two $250,000 donations to Sharpton’s nonprofit National Action Network. The donations, made on October 5 and 1, came ahead of a friendly interview Sharpton conducted with Harris on October 20.
Vice President Kamala Harris had a friendly interview with MSNBC’s Al Sharpton on October 20. (MSNBC screenshot)
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The National Black Church Initiative denounced Sharpton in a statement shared on his Facebook page last Tuesday, saying the payment raised “significant moral and journalistic ethical concerns.” The coalition, which says it represents 150,000 churches nationwide, said it would “support the suspension of Rev. Sharpton” until an investigation is completed.
But this Monday, the initiative retracted its previous statement, writing in part that it was “not aware of the existing contract or agreement with Black organizations, including Rev. Sharpton’s National Action Network, to conduct nonpartisan Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts ahead of the election.”
“We recognize the critical importance of this work. After further investigation, we found no evidence that any candidate paid for endorsements or endorsements, nor that NBC engaged in partisan political activity related to Vice President Harris’ appearance on PoliticsNation. we understand that Vice President Harris has previously appeared on PoliticsNation over the years with Rev. Al Sharpton,” the statement continued.
The National Black Church Initiative did not respond to emailed questions about the reversal. MSNBC, Sharpton and the National Action Network also did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The Rev. Al Sharpton welcomes then-Sen. Kamala Harris takes the stage before a meeting of Sharpton’s National Action Network on November 13, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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MSNBC suspended Joe Scarborough and Keith Olbermann in 2010 due to political donations. The network before told the Free Beacon it was “unaware of the donations” to Sharpton’s nonprofit, but did not say whether the host had been reprimanded.
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