The Black Church Wants Al Sharpton Nixed From MSNBC Over $500K Donation From Kamala Harris Campaign

Following the bombshell reporting, journalistic advocates have also spoken out

A group of Black churches is calling on MSNBC to have civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton removed from the network after finding his nonprofit received a $500,000 donation from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, Fox News reported.

By representing 50,000 churches and more than 27 million members throughout the United States, the National Black Church Initiative claims to be “very concerned that one of our leaders appears to be selling our voting to Kamala Harris’s campaign” and wants the network to do something about it. “This type of action puts a moral stain on the integrity of the Black Church,” the coalition said in a statement posted to Facebook on Dec. 3.

“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 news broke of the massive chain of donations following a report from the Washington Free Beacon, revealing the Harris campaign made two donations of $250,000 to Sharpton’s National Action Network on Sept. 5 and Oct. 1, just before a scheduled interview with Sharpton was set to air on Oct. 20. While Sharpton has yet to address the matter, MSNBC claims they were unaware of any donations. The network has a history of former and current anchors receiving political donations, resulting in the suspension of Joe Scarborough and Keith Olbermann in 2010.

President of the National Black Church Initiative, Rev. Anthony Evans, said the group will “support Rev. Sharpton’s suspension until the investigation is complete” however, they look at it as a matter of moral code.

“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 said.

“We will continue to pray for him.”

Following the bombshell reporting, journalistic advocates have also spoken out about how the relationship between Sharpton, often appearing as a political commentator, and MSNBC can be looked at as a conflict of interest which could lead to distrust from viewers and “places a black eye on both their network and the profession.”

“This kind of entanglement harms the credibility of the journalist, the news organization, and journalism overall, and credibility is difficult to restore,” the media ethics group, the Society of Professional Journalists, said.

“While Sharpton may not consider himself a journalist, many viewers do.”

More news of scandals wrapped up in political bias is the last thing MSNBC needs. According to The Telegraph, the network received major backlash after it was revealed media personality Rachel Maddow was being paid $25 million a year following a contract renewal.

Since the 2024 Election cycle wrapped up, the Harris campaign has been riddled in scrutiny about alleged payouts ahead of interviews. Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions has been accused of receiving two $500,000 payments from the campaign just one month after the Vice President appeared in a town hall with the former talk show host. However, Winfrey has since denied the claims.