Democratic Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones, who has expressed support for President Trump, engaged in a testy exchange with MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin after the host asked him if he was being paid by Trump’s reelection campaign.
“Are you a paid campaign surrogate? Are you being compensated by the [Trump campaign]?” Melvin asked during an interview Wednesday.
“Let me be clear,” Jones responded. “You get paid to shape a liberal narrative. You get paid to attack this president. I don’t get a dime from this president. I don’t get a dime from the campaign.”
Melvin interjected, “It’s a simple question.”
“And see, that’s the problem. When an African American —” Jones continued.
Melvin, apparently insulted, shouted back, “Sir, I did not raise your race. … No, no, whoa, whoa … You’re not going to imply that I asked that question because you’re black.”
Jones retorted that he was only asked if he was paid because “I don’t fit your narrative.”
“And you need to accept that many other African Americans and others support this president because of his policies,” Jones said. “And to insult me and say am I getting paid? That is disgraceful.”
Melvin, who is also black, said he has asked the same question to other Democrats who have spoken positively of Trump and come on his program.
Jones, who represents one of Georgia’s most Democratic state congressional districts, announced in April he plans to leave the Democratic party and vote for Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
“It’s very simple to me. President Trump’s handling of the economy, his support for historically black colleges, and his criminal justice initiatives drew me to endorse his campaign,” Jones said at the time.
The local Democratic Party has disavowed Jones for “choosing to stand with a racist president.”
Jones has argued Democratic politicians are the ones who are oppressing black people in America.
“We’ve raised $17K in less than three hours,” Jones said in June while promoting a fundraiser organized by a conservative group to support a black-owned business destroyed during riots in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd. “I thought conservatives were real racists?”
