MSNBC temporarily benched a network contributor following his criticism of those who support Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president.
Jason Johnson, an editor at The Root magazine, was suspended by the network after he challenged supporters of Sanders last week during a SiriusXM radio show, accusing them of alienating minorities from the campaign, according to the Daily Beast.
“I do find it fascinating that racist liberal whites seem to love them some Bernie Sanders, consistently, and always have a problem with any person of color who doesn’t want to follow with the orthodoxy of their ‘lord and savior’ Bernie Sanders,” Johnson said at the time. “The man cares nothing for intersectionality, and I don’t care how many people from the island of misfit black girls that you throw out to defend you on a regular basis.”
Johnson’s comments prompted a response from Briahna Joy Gray, the national press secretary for the Sanders campaign, who tweeted: “I hope we can have political disputes without engaging in open racism and sexism,” Gray said. “This misogynoir is disappointing, but not surprising from @DrJasonJohnson. I hope we can all encourage each other to be better.”
I hope we can have political disputes without engaging in open racism and sexism. This misogynoir is disappointing, but not surprising from @DrJasonJohnson.
I hope we can all encourage each other to be better. #BernieBeatsTrump #BloombergIsAnOligarch https://t.co/DNBdbtjwMH
— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) February 21, 2020
MSNBC declined to comment to the Daily Beast.
Other MSNBC personalities have also been forced to dial back their attacks on the 2020 Democrat and his supporters. On Monday, MSNBC host Chris Matthews apologized to viewers for comparing Sanders’s victory in the Nevada caucuses to the Nazi regime’s invasion of France during World War II.
“Sen. Sanders, I’m sorry for comparing anything from that tragic era, in which so many suffered, especially the Jewish people, to an electoral result in which you were the well-deserved winner,” he said in response to growing calls for the host to resign.
“We appreciate some of the steps MSNBC has taken, and we hope to get fairer coverage going forward,” said Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir to the Washington Examiner in an email after Matthews apologized.
