A Democratic Georgia lawmaker took exception to an MSNBC journalist questioning his support for President Donald Trump during a combative interview on Wednesday.
The video: Anchor and host Craig Melvin aggressively challenged state Rep. Vernon Jones’ reasons for supporting the president, claiming it was “patently false” for him to credit Trump with overseeing the strongest economy in years prior to the coronavirus pandemic. (The American public agreed with Melvin, according to Gallup.)
When Jones told Melvin to stop talking over him, the anchor asked whether his guest was being “financially compensated” to support Trump’s reelection campaign.
Jones forcefully denied he could be bought and accused Melvin of trying to force him into a pre-fabricated narrative about black Americans.
- “Let me be clear. You get paid to shape a liberal narrative. You get paid to attack this president. I don’t get a dime for this president. I don’t get a dime from the campaign. Everything I’ve done has been me and based on my principles,” Jones said.
- “So, don’t ask me that. You only asked me that because I don’t fit your narrative. … It’s what I can do for my country, and you need to accept that many other African Americans and others support this president because of his policies. And to insult me to say am I getting paid … That is disgraceful, that is horrible and that’s representative of MSNBC and their narrative to keep blacks silent who happen to support this president.”
- Melvin, who is also black, said he had not raised the question for racial reasons and had previously asked Democrats if they were being paid by Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
- But Jones was skeptical: “I haven’t heard.”
The aftermath: Jones’ interview immediately made headlines and was promoted by the Trump campaign, but the lawmaker had more to say in a video posted to Twitter later Wednesday.
- Jones claimed Melvin’s question about money reflected the “bigotry of the liberal media and the Democratic party” that seeks to “keep us on the plantation.”
- Jones said he was voting for Trump over Biden because the president has a better “track record” of “accomplishments that has helped not only the black community but this country.”
- “I want to say to the liberal media and to liberals in the Democratic Party, Vernon Jones is unbought and un-bossed, and you are not going to silence me. As a matter of fact, you may as well get ready to — what? Feel the Vern. Because I am coming at you,” he said.
- “Stay tuned, there’s more. Peace out, America.”
Jones also noted that other black Trump supporters had been similarly mistreated on MSNBC’s airwaves.
- MSNBC political analyst Tiffany Cross during a July 25 interview asked Trump surrogate Bruce LaVell if he was being paid for his “blind support” for the president.
- Melvin, on NBC News on July 11, asked Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, if the GOP was “using” him as a “token” black figure amid a national uprising over racism.
- Both LaVell and Scott said they were independent actors.
- We’ll Do It Live could not find an example of Melvin asking a Biden supporter about payment by the campaign; MSNBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Blexit? Longstanding allegations that Democrats take for granted black support have been given new voice during the 2020 election campaign.
- On the right, Candace Owens has purported to lead a “Blexit,” or black exit, from the
“Democrat plantation.” - Similar grievances erupted on the left after Biden in May told New York City radio host Charlamagne Tha God “if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
