Al Sharpton

MSNBC's Sharpton Claims ObamaCare 'Exceeded Expectations,' Sees GOP 'Lies, Fearmongering, and Paranoia'
By Brad Wilmouth | April 18, 2014 | 10:46 PM EDT

On the Friday, April 18, PoliticsNation, Al Sharpton hyped President Obama's dubious claims about the Affordable Care Act's alleged success as the MSNBC host asserted that the program has "exceeded expectations," and that Republicans are suffering from a "hangover" in denying its success.

Sharpton claimed to see "lies, fearmongering and paranoia" from the GOP, and brought up questionable claims dating back to 2010 that Tea Party members spat on Democratic members of Congress during a protest. Sharpton began:

In Easter Message, MSNBC's Sharpton Lauds Crucifixion, Resurrection of... Obama?!
By Paul Bremmer | April 18, 2014 | 12:36 PM EDT

Al Sharpton entered truly ludicrous territory during an appearance Wednesday on Tom Joyner’s radio show. While talking about the meaning of Easter, the Baptist minister and MSNBC host dragged President Obama into the mix:

"As I looked at President Obama at our convention last Friday, where all he took he’s been able to rise politically again, I’m not comparing him to Jesus, but I am saying that to every crucifixion there is a resurrection for those that believe." [YouTube video embedded below.]
 

Al Sharpton Scoffs at New ObamaCare Allegation: 'Who Else Is In This Latest Conspiracy, the Easter Bunny?'
By Matt Hadro | April 17, 2014 | 3:17 PM EDT

On Wednesday, MSNBC's Al Sharpton scoffed at the latest allegations that the White House is trying to cook the books on ObamaCare numbers by changing the census questions.

"I mean, who else is in this latest conspiracy, the Easter Bunny?" he quipped, in an interview with former Democratic Ohio governor Ted Strickland. He said those disputing the current ObamaCare enrollment figures were like "birthers" and "truthers."

MSNBC’s Bernstein (Purposely?) Confuses Budget Deficit with National Debt
By Paul Bremmer | April 17, 2014 | 10:35 AM EDT

MSNBC contributor Jared Bernstein pulled off a deft sleight-of-hand on Tuesday’s PoliticsNation. It started after host Al Sharpton played a clip of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) calling for fiscal responsibility: “If Washington is serious about helping working families or serious about getting families out of work back to work, then it needs to get serious about our national debt. How do we do it? First we stop spending money we don't have.”

Bernstein, formerly Vice President Joe Biden’s chief economist, blasted Ryan for being “wrong on the numbers” (even though Ryan didn’t cite any numbers in the clip). He claimed:

MSNBC Panel Hits 'Ugly' and 'Vile' Republican 'Extremism,' GOP 'Going to Cease to Exist'
By Brad Wilmouth | April 16, 2014 | 9:15 PM EDT

On the Wednesday, April 16, PoliticsNation on MSNBC, far-left host Al Sharpton berated what he viewed as "extremism" and "intolerant radical views" of Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in Mississippi and North Carolina as he highlighted comments that he considered "offensive," "ugly," and "vile."

Guest Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post went so far as to hyperbolically suggest that the GOP is "going to cease to exist" unless Republican Party leaders who are "aghast at the far-right extremists" do not react against these candidates. 

Sharpton began the show:

NewsBusted: The Dubious 'Reverend' Al, FBI Snitch
By NB Staff | April 15, 2014 | 11:17 PM EDT

"Al Sharpton is now denying he was an FBI informant, saying it's a dubious assertion. You know, just like Sharpton’s dubious assertion that he's a reverend."

Watch our very own Jodi Miller zing Sharpton as well as exiting HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama, and politician-turned-amateur bass guitarist Mike Huckabee by clicking play on the embedded video below the page break. To get NewsBusted straight to your inbox, click here. To subscribe at YouTube, visit here.

MSNBC Panel Hits GOP 'War on Voting Rights,' 'Trying to Make It Illegal'
By Brad Wilmouth | April 14, 2014 | 9:24 PM EDT

On the Monday, April 14, PoliticsNation, host Al Sharpton squeezed more mileage out of President Obama's Friday visit to the MSNBC host's National Action Network as Sharpton devoted another segment to the President's words criticizing new laws against voter fraud, with Sharpton accusing Republicans of "waging a war on voting rights." The PoliticsNation host had previously highlighted Obama's speech on Friday's show.

Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post soon joined Sharpton in going over the top as he accused Republicans of engaging in a "concerted effort" to "disenfranchise a vast block of voters," and of "trying to make" voting "illegal."

After a clip of President Obama addressing Sharpton's National Action Network on Friday, the MSNBC host recalled:

MSNBC Sees GOP 'War on Voting,' FNC Viewers 'Dumb Enough to Believe' Obama Scandals
By Brad Wilmouth | April 12, 2014 | 1:57 PM EDT

On the Friday, April 11, PoliticsNation on MSNBC, host Al Sharpton led the show by pushing the liberal mantra that Republicans are in a "war on voting" as he highlighted President Obama's speech earlier that day to Sharpton's own left-wing National Action Network organization on the subject of voting rights.

And later in the show, as Sharpton hosted a segment dismissing the various Obama administration scandals, guest and liberal talk radio host Bill Press accused FNC audience members of being "dumb" as he asserted that California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa should be "on the payroll" of FNC head Roger Ailes.

Democrats Complain MSNBC Has 'Double Standard' on Hosts Speaking at Fundraisers
By Randy Hall | April 10, 2014 | 10:02 PM EDT

The Democratic National Committee has accused the MSNBC cable channel of having "a pretty big double standard" regarding its “confusing policy” of forbidding some anchors from attending political fundraising events while others are allowed to speak at similar programs, according to a letter written to Phil Griffin, president of the liberal television network.

Mo Elleithee, the DNC's communications director, indicated that channel executives prevented Ed Schultz -- host of the weekday afternoon program The Ed Show – from appearing at a Democratic Unity Dinner in Broward County, Fla., on March 15, while Joe Scarborough, a co-host of the weekday Morning Joe program, is slated to give the keynote address at next month's Cheshire County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner in New Hampshire.

Sharpton Spins His Cooperation With FBI, Claims He Wasn't an Informant
By Paul Bremmer | April 9, 2014 | 5:08 PM EDT

Al Sharpton was thrust into the media spotlight this week thanks to newly released documents that detailed his role as an FBI informant in the 1980s. At the end of his MSNBC show PoliticsNation on Tuesday night, the reverend addressed the revelation, although he put his own spin on it to portray himself in the best possible light.

Sharpton claimed his involvement with the FBI arose out of a music industry dispute. He said “people who claimed to be mobsters” threatened to kill him if he didn’t stop demanding that black promoters be involved in promoting a Michael Jackson tour. This death threat supposedly led him to call the FBI and cooperate with them against those mobsters.

NBC Touts Al Sharpton's Past as FBI Informant; Glosses Over His Being Forced Into It to Avoid Indictment
By Matt Hadro | April 9, 2014 | 12:40 AM EDT

Tuesday's NBC Nightly News highlighted MSNBC host Al Sharpton's past as an FBI informant but glossed over serious controversies, ignoring his infamous role in the 1991 Crown Heights riot.

The overall tone of the report was positive. Correspondent Pete Williams lauded Sharpton: "as mainstream as a civil rights activist can be, a frequent visitor to the White House, a friend of Attorney General Eric Holder and nightly cable host on MSNBC." Anchor Brian Williams stated that "tonight, newly released documents are shedding new light on another role from Al Sharpton's past, that of FBI informant."

Wash Post's Dana Milbank: The Koch Brothers Are 'Demons' With 'Pitchforks'
By Paul Bremmer | April 8, 2014 | 3:15 PM EDT

MSNBC talking heads spend a lot of time demonizing Republicans and conservatives, but on Monday’s PoliticsNation, frequent contributor Dana Milbank made that connection directly and compared the Koch brothers to demons.

Milbank and host Al Sharpton were discussing the verbal attacks on David and Charles Koch that many Democrats, especially Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, have carried out lately. Sharpton asked why Democrats were pushing this issue so hard, and Milbank responded, “Look, everybody knows that in politics, you need demons. And the Koch brothers are uniquely qualified to play that role. I mean, they couldn't be any better for it if they were carrying around pitchforks and had horns.”