On “Reliable Sources” Sunday Brian Stelter and his guests debated the many hats worn by Al Sharpton: preacher, news host, fundraiser, media consultant.
“He wants to pick and choose issues that can keep himself relevant,” Sharpton critic Minister Jonathan Gentry told Stelter. “This man wants to come in and perpetuate hate. When he comes into the equation he makes it about race.”
As for how his activism plays into his MSNBC show, Sharpton tells Stelter it’s no different than when the Rev. Jesse Jackson had a show on CNN in the 1990s. “I wear the same hats he wore,” Sharpton says. A major difference, however, is that Sharpton’s show is on five nights a week. Jackson’s show “Both Sides” was on once a week, on Saturdays.
“I think for the first time it’s probably gotten a little bit sticky,” NY1 anchor Erroll Lewis says of Sharpton’s many hats. “When you see him interviewing somebody who he’s also representing and then he goes to the Justice Department or to the White House, you have to wonder, who in all of this is he really speaking to and for?”
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