MSNBC admits that Al Sharpton received approximately $500,000 from Harris

MSNBC was stunned to learn that a nonprofit founded by Al Sharpton received half a million dollars from Kamala Harris’ campaign just before he interviewed her. The donations just before Sharpton’s conversation with Harris have raised questions about the news outlet’s credibility.

National Action Network, a civil rights nonprofit founded by Sharpton in 1991, received $500,000 from the Harris campaign just weeks before the MSNBC host held a highly anticipated meeting with the Democrat. Campaign finance records from the 60-year-old’s campaign show two separate payments went to the National Action Network.

One payment for $250,000 was sent to the nonprofit on September 5 and another for the same amount on October 1. The softball interview with Sharpton took place just weeks after the second payment on October 20.

MSNBC is widely known as a liberal-leaning channel, and the fact that one of its top talents took in a huge amount of money just before a follow-up interview has sparked backlash from journalists who say the channel has now been given a “black eye.” During the rosy interview, the MSNBC host effusively praised Harris’ “extraordinary historic campaign” while simultaneously labeling Donald Trump as “hostile and erratic.”

When pressed by the Free Beacon about the donations to Sharpton’s group, MSNBC did not respond for weeks. Finally, the outlet responded with the fifth plea. A spokesperson for MSNBC stunningly told the Free Beacon that it was “unaware” of the Harris campaign’s donations to the National Action Network.

“MSNBC was not aware of the donations to the National Action Network,” the spokesperson told the station. The employee then declined to share whether MSNBC would take action against Sharpton.

He said the company does not comment on “personnel matters.” The Society of Professional Journalists denounced MSNBC for not being aware of the donations to Sharpton’s group.

“These types of entanglements damage the credibility of the journalist, the news organization and journalism in general, and credibility is difficult to restore,” they told the Free Beacon. “While Sharpton may not consider himself a journalist, many viewers do.”

“When TV news announcers fail to declare their conflicts of interest, or fail to perform their jobs in a manner inconsistent with ethical journalism, it creates distrust among their audiences and casts a black eye on both their network and the profession,” the statement said. group. Previously, MSNBC took punitive action against hosts who donated to political efforts.

In 2010, then-president of MSNBC Phil Griffin suspended popular “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough after it came to light that he had given more than $4,000 in political donations. That same year, former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann was also suspended for making political donations to Democrats.

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