*A week after calling for MSNBC to suspend and investigate the Rev. Al Sharpton over hefty donations to his nonprofit National Action Network (NAN) accepted from the presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, the NBCI/National Black Church Initiative is having a change of heart.
Fox News reports the NBCI, a coalition of conservative Black preachers, retracted an earlier statement it made on the siltation on Dec. 9. Explaining its retraction, the NBCI called its comments against Sharpton a “misstep,” adding that it was “unaware of the existing contract or agreement with Black organizations including Rev. Sharpton’s National Action Network to conduct non-partisan Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts ahead of the election.”
“We recognize the critical importance of this work. After further research, we have found no evidence that any candidate paid for support or endorsements, nor that NBC was engaged in any partisan political activities related to Vice President Harris’ appearance on PoliticsNation,” NBCI’s statement read. “Furthermore, we understand that Vice President Harris has made previous appearances on PoliticsNation with Rev. Al Sharpton over the years.”
The Initiative’s retraction comes after the Washington Free Beacon broke the news that the Harris campaign made two donations of $250,000 to NAN, Fox News noted.
The donations, made on Sept. 5 and Oct. 1, occurred before Sharpton’s interview with Harris on Oct. 20.
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The interaction received negative feedback from viewers who blasted Sharpton for talking to the former Democratic presidential candidate with kid gloves.
On Dec. 3, NBCI reacted to Sharpton accepting the donations released on its Facebook page. In that statement, the coalition pointed out that the payment raised “significant moral and journalism ethics” concerns.
The NBCI, which says it represents 150,000 churches across the country, took its stance further as it voiced support for Rev. Sharpton’s suspension” until an investigation was complete.
At this time, NBCI, MSNBC, Sharpton, and the National Action Network have not commented on the retraction.
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