Al Sharpton’s latest scandal is a doozy.
Sharpton may not be able to talk his way out of this one.
And Al Sharpton is in big trouble over this hidden $500,000 payment.
Al Sharpton’s payola
No one thought much of Kamala Harris sitting down for an interview with Al Sharpton on Sharpton’s MSNBC show.
MSNBC is the home team network for Democrats, and it looked like a supporter providing a friendly platform for his candidate.
But then all hell broke loose.
Campaigns must make their finance reports public.
And The Washington Free Beacon discovered a bombshell.
The Kamala Harris campaign paid $500,000 to Sharpton’s National Action Network in the weeks before the interview.
“The Harris campaign made a $250,000 contribution to Sharpton’s National Action Network on Sept. 5 and another on Oct. 1, just weeks before Sharpton conducted a favorable interview with the Democratic nominee,” the Free Beacon reported.
MSNBC claims to be a news network.
And the one line any outlet purporting to be a news network won’t cross is an exchange of money for stories.
Normally this involves not paying sources for interviews.
But in this case, Kamala Harris forking over $500,000 to Al Sharpton’s political group made it look like MSNBC’s airwaves were for sale to the highest bidder.
MSNBC told the Free Beacon it had no idea about the payment and wouldn’t have any further comment.
“MSNBC was unaware of the donations made to the National Action Network,” a network spokesman told the Free Beacon.
The spokesman also said the network would have no further comment on “personnel matters.”
Not the first time an MSNBC host crossed the line
This isn’t the first time an MSNBC host got in hot water over campaign finance scandals.
MSNBC suspended host Joe Scarborough back in 2010 over campaign donations he made to the then-Florida State Representative Matt Gaetz.
At the time, MSNBC’s corporate policy forbade any political activity that could create even an appearance of a conflict of interest.
“Anyone working for NBC News who takes part in civic or other outside activities may find that these activities jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist because they may create the appearance of a conflict of interest.” The corporate policy read. “Such activities may include participation in or contributions to political campaigns or groups that espouse controversial positions. You should report any such potential conflicts in advance to, and obtain prior approval of, the president of NBC News or his designee.”
Anyone tuning in to MSNBC knows what they are getting.
It’s a left-wing network that fully supports the Democrat Party, while constantly savaging Republicans.
But viewers expect these are the honest opinions of the host.
MSNBC found this out the hard way when ratings for Morning Joe plunged after Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski announced they made peace with Donald Trump after spending seven years calling him a racist, a sexist, and a fascist.
If the audience thinks Al Sharpton was only being supportive of Kamala Harris because he was on the take, it will cause further erosion in ratings at a time when viewership is already down more than 50 percent in the wake of the election.
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