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Failed Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris has come under fire for paying celebrities and media figures, one of them being MSNBC’s Al Sharpton who slobbered all over her during a pre-election interview.

In another blow to the troubled left-wing propaganda network’s cratering credibility, MSNBC execs are playing dumb about the two payments of $250,000 to the longtime racial grievance hustler’s National Action Network before he sat down with the vice president.

The October 20 slobberfest was one of a series of interviews that Harris did down the stretch as it became apparent that her White House bid was in deep trouble. She had spent months refusing to be interviewed except for a softball session along with running mate Tim Walz that was conducted by fawning CNN anchor Dana Bash, one of her biggest fans.

It was an outrageous conflict of interest that Sharpton – who is presented as a journalist – would accept payment from the Harris campaign and the network has gone into Sgt. Schulz mode over the swirling controversy.

“MSNBC was unaware of the donations made to the National Action Network,” a network spokesperson told the Washington Free Beacon which first reported the payments to Sharpton’s nonprofit but was tight-lipped on whether MSNBC would take any disciplinary action against its host for what smacks of a violation of the network’s policy.

The spox told the outlet that the network doesn’t comment on “personnel matters.”

According to the Free Beacon, the network hadn’t responded to its request for comment on its reporting until it was criticized by the Society of Professional Journalists.

“This kind of entanglement harms the credibility of the journalist, the news organization, and journalism overall, and credibility is difficult to restore,” the organization told the network. “While Sharpton may not consider himself a journalist, many viewers do.”

“When TV news broadcasters do not report their conflicts of interest, or conduct their work in ways that run counter to ethical journalism, it builds distrust among their audiences and places a black eye on both their network and the profession,” the Society of Professional Journalists said.

The Free Beacon’s Chuck Ross pointed out that MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Keith Olbermann were both suspended for political activity, but that the Reverend Al seems to be getting “special treatment” for his own conflict of interest.

Ross also suggested that MSNBC President Rashida Jones’ chummy relationship with Sharpton might have something to do with the double standard.

The smell of Sharpton’s nonprofit getting what some might be tempted to suggest is a payoff is so malodorous that some at MSNBC can’t hold their nose any longer.

“No one’s surprised that anybody at MSNBC was rooting for Harris. This feels like another level of nonsense. Like, you’re kidding me, right? This is weird,” one current MSNBC employee told Fox News Digital. “Harris could have given Al Sharpton an interview, and it would have gone the same way. But what are you paying for?… There’s no way that this can’t seem weird.”

“Everybody knows who Al Sharpton is… but this feels like a bridge too far. A big bridge too far… This is not landing well,” the insider continued. “This has a bit of a dirty feel to it… These things happen and they don’t bounce around MSNBC all that much. Like people just don’t care. This one feels, I’d say, there’s a deeper disappointment. There’s a sense of like, ugh, we don’t need this. This feels kind of grifty and gross.”

The source told Fox News Digital that Sharpton is given a “wide berth” at MSNBC and that the race-baiter is”not held to the same journalistic standard” as others, describing the controversy as reeking like a “pay-to-play” scheme.

“There is a sense among the people I’ve spoken to that this feels like something wrong and that something should be done about it,” the MSNBC employee added. “I don’t know what that something is… That’s a lot of money! That’s not a small matter… It just doesn’t sit well with people.”

It’s just one more problem for MSNBC which is reeling since Trump’s big win and rumors are swirling that it could be on the verge of being sold off.

Chris Donaldson
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