Politics

Kurtz: MSNBC should crack down on Sharpton’s activism, not allow him to organize political rallies

Matthew Boyle Investigative Reporter
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SANFORD, Fla. — The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz, who hosts CNN’s Reliable Sources media watchdog program on Sunday, doesn’t think it’s acceptable for the Rev. Al Sharpton to host a cable news program while organizing political rallies.

Sharpton hosts MSNBC’s “Politics Nation” on weekdays, and he has been at the forefront of recent racially-focused political rallies in Sanford, Fla., and around the country after the killing of 17-year-old black teenager Trayvon Martin.

Sharpton has been pushing these rallies despite the fact that all the evidence and information about Martin’s killing hasn’t yet come out. MSNBC has been silent on why the network is allowing Sharpton to organize these events.

Network spokesman Jeremy Gaines didn’t immediately respond to The Daily Caller’s request for comment on the matter.

Even so, Kurtz believes it’s time for MSNBC to crack down on Sharpton and hold him to the same standards to which Fox News has held its hosts.

“Folks, we criticized Hannity when he went to Tea Party rally & was yanked back by Fox,” Kurtz tweeted on Sunday afternoon. “MSNBC should hold Sharpton to same standard at rally.”

Sharpton fanned the flames of racial politics in Sanford on Thursday, and he’s expected to be a part of another rally in the central Florida town on Monday afternoon. During the rally, Sharpton admitted he was there as an activist as well, not as a media personality or news anchor. He said he didn’t believe in “drive-by activism,” and planned to see the storyline through to the end. Sharpton also raised money for Martin’s family and advocated for the arrest of neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman, the man who shot Martin.

After that Thursday rally, protests have sparked up nationwide.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., is also expected to show up in Sanford on Monday. Jackson, however, does not host a program on a cable news network.

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