MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton is not any stranger to controversy as revelations of what is been dubbed a “pay to play” scheme extends the lengthy shadow of scandals that comply with him.
Final week, MSNBC admitted it was “unaware” that Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential marketing campaign paid $500,000 to Sharpton’s Nationwide Motion Community nonprofit forward of a pleasant Oct. 20 interview with the Democratic nominee simply weeks earlier than the election.
Following Harris’ defeat to President-elect Donald Trump, FEC filings revealed the Harris marketing campaign gave two $250,000 donations to Sharpton’s nonprofit group in September and October. Nevertheless, the MSNBC weekend host didn’t confide in viewers the obvious battle of curiosity earlier than or after the interview. Neither did he disclose the donations to his bosses on the community, based on the Washington Free Beacon, which broke the story.
MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton has a historical past of scandals and controversies far behind the most recent “pay for play” allegations. (Brian Stukes/Getty Photographs; Kim Kulish/Corbis through Getty Photographs; Screenshot/MSNBC)
Sharpton’s political stripes are not any secret as an open supporter of Harris and the Democratic Get together, even talking on the Democratic Nationwide Conference in Chicago. However the six-figure transaction between his group and the Harris marketing campaign is a “bridge too far” amongst his MSNBC colleagues, based on a community insider.
Whereas it is unclear whether or not Sharpton will face any penalties for the blatant battle of curiosity, it marks the most recent scandal to face the outspoken activist. These are among the controversies he has been engulfed in over the many years.
Tax troubles
Sharpton has constructed a repute for enjoying quick and unfastened with regards to his taxes. In 1993, he pleaded responsible for not submitting his 1986 tax return in trade for having two felony costs dropped.
In 2008, it was revealed that Sharpton owed practically a staggering $1.5 million in again taxes.
The New York Occasions outlined a few of his different monetary troubles over time. In 1990, he was acquitted of felony costs after he was accused of stealing a whopping $250,000 from a youth group. Three years later, he pleaded responsible to a misdemeanor cost after not submitting a state revenue tax return. Considered one of his for-profit companies, Uncooked Expertise, was additionally busted for not paying taxes for a number of years.
“Records reviewed by The New York Times show more than $4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens against him and his for-profit businesses,” the Occasions reported in 2014.
MSNBC WAS ‘UNAWARE’ HARRIS CAMPAIGN. GAVE $500K TO AL SHARPTON’S GROUP AHEAD OF FRIENDLY INTERVIEW
Selling the Tawana Brawley rape hoax
Regardless of his outstanding stint at MSNBC, maybe Sharpton is finest recognized for rallying behind the notorious rape hoaxer Tawana Brawley.
Brawley, a 15-year-old Black woman, alleged in 1987 that she was kidnapped and raped by a gaggle of White males after disappearing for 4 days from her New York residence. She had been coated in feces and racial slurs written throughout her physique.
Sharpton was amongst her closest advisers and was her most vocal defender, fueling racial tensions throughout the nation within the course of. A grand jury in the end discovered her claims have been false.
Sharpton himself was sued for defamation by one in every of people Brawley accused, who was awarded $65,000 in damages. Sharpton’s supporters ended up footing the invoice years later after he claimed he did not have the cash.
Rev. Al Sharpton was the most important promoter of the Tawana Brawley rape hoax. (John Pedin/NY Day by day Information Archive through Getty Photographs)
To today, Sharpton has no regrets for defending Brawley.
“I have no evidence that I was misled,” Sharpton mentioned in a January 2023 interview. “My position was that there was this allegation from this young lady that was really questionable behavior by some that she accused.”
Historical past of antisemitism
The outstanding activist has a disturbing document of antisemitism over time.
In 1991, Sharpton defended New York Metropolis School Professor Leonard Jeffries, who sparked outrage together with his speech focusing on “rich Jews” he mentioned financed the slave commerce and managed Hollywood, saying they “put together a system of destruction for Black people.” He responded to the controversy by saying “”If the Jews need to get it on, inform them to pin their yarmulkes again and are available over to my home.”
KAMALA HARRIS INTERVIEWERS RECEIVED LARGE CAMPAIGN DONATIONS TO THEIR GROUPS AHEAD OF SIT-DOWNS
That same year, Sharpton fueled a deadly antisemitic mob in Crown Heights, Brooklyn after a Jewish man fatally stuck a 7-year-old Black boy with his car in a horrific accident.
At the boy’s funeral, Sharpton said “The world will inform us he was killed by chance. Sure, it was a social accident. It’s an accident to permit an apartheid ambulance service in the midst of Crown Heights… Speak about how Oppenheimer in South Africa sends diamonds straight to Tel Aviv and offers with the diamond retailers proper right here in Crown Heights.” His use of “diamond retailers” was referencing Jewish jewelers. He also led protests that included chants like “Kill the Jews!” and “No Justice, No Peace!”
The riots led to the fatal stabbing of rabbinical scholar Yankel Rosenbaum by a Black teen.
Rev. Al Sharpton ignited racial tensions in Crown Heights targeting the Jewish community after a Black child was fatally struck by a Jewish motorist. (Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST MEDIA AND CULTURE NEWS
The incident was investigated and no charges were brought. But after the Jewish man moved to Israel, Sharpton rushed to the Jewish State to hunt him down. According to the New York Daily News, a woman spotted Sharpton at the airport and told him to “Go to hell” to which he replied “I’m in hell already. I’m in Israel.”
In 1995, Sharpton referred to a Jewish store owner in Harlem as a “White interloper” after the store owner raised the rent of its Black subtenant after the store owner’s own rent was raised by the building’s owner, a Black Pentecostal church. Sharpton and his National Action Network organized weeks-long protests that led to a shooting that killed seven people and the Jewish store owner’s business burned to the ground.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
