MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton is facing criticism following reports that his non-profit received $500,000 from Kamala Harris’s campaign ahead of a softball interview with the Vice President. Financial records indicated that the Harris-Walz campaign made two payments, each amounting to $250,000, to Sharpton’s National Action Network on September 5 and October 1.
Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is among those voicing concerns over the payments, suggesting there were attempts to “manipulate the audience” when Sharpton interviewed Harris on MSNBC.
The then-Democratic candidate effusively praised Sharpton during the appearance, calling him ‘Rev’ and saying, “You have been such an extraordinary leader over all of your years. You have been a voice of truth, a voice of conscience.”
Sharpton has been described as a “genuine bigot” even in The New York Times, with Brown University professor Glenn Loury calling him “an ambulance-chasing, anti-Semitic, anti-white race hustler.”
Former Congressman John Linder says the Harris-Sharpton MSNBC interview was effectively a “campaign commercial,” with the host echoing the Democratic nominee’s campaign talking points and criticizing rival candidate Donald J. Trump.
The Harris campaign’s financial management generally has been questioned, with reports indicating it spent over $1 billion and still ended up $20 million in debt. Expenditures reportedly included paying around a million dollars to a company owned by billionaire talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who endorsed Harris on the campaign trail.
