Sharpton on Trump claim he was paid to endorse Harris: ‘Absolutely not’
The Rev. Al Sharpton early Monday pushed back on President Trump’s claim that he was paid to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential bid, saying he neither received money from the campaign nor formally endorsed the Democratic ticket.
“Absolutely not,” Sharpton said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” when asked if he was paid to endorse Harris.
Sharpton noted that his nonprofit, the National Action Network (NAN), received donations from the campaign, which Sharpton said is public information included in Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.
But, he added, “National Action Network nor I even endorsed her.”
Sharpton said NAN’s lawyers are looking at whether they can file a defamation lawsuit against Trump, noting the president has levied the accusation against Sharpton in the past.
“He had knowledge this time that there was no endorsement and that I didn’t get any money. This went to the nonprofit that I’m connected to,” Sharpton said.
Over the weekend, Trump claimed Sharpton received $600,000 for endorsing Harris in 2024, saying, “YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PAY FOR AN ENDORSEMENT. IT IS TOTALLY ILLEGAL TO DO SO.”
“Can you imagine what would happen if politicians started paying for people to endorse them. All hell would break out! Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money, BROKE THE LAW. They should all be prosecuted! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump continued.
Sharpton said on MSNBC that Trump made the claim because he had “very serious problems” with his base’s frustration over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case. Sharpton suggested the president’s latest accusation is an effort to distract from Epstein.
“So last week, he was trying to flood the zone to take any pressure off of him and try to put his MAGA base back together again,” Sharpton said.
“It’s all about trying to get past Epstein,” he added. “We have shown in National Action Network and other groups what we did and didn’t do in the campaign. Even when I spoke at the convention, I said, we don’t endorse candidates. We have come with our files, release the Epstein files. Mr. Trump, do what we did or be quiet.”