Remember Jason Johnson, the commentator on MSNBC who said that it is racist white liberals who love Bernie Sanders and dismissed the black women in Sanders’s campaign as coming from ‘the island of misfit black girls’. That comment created such an uproar that it appears that MSNBC has quietly suspended him.
Following MSNBC contributor Dr. Jason Johnson’s inflammatory remarks about supporters and campaign staffers of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the academic has been temporarily benched by the network, sources confirmed to The Daily Beast.
In recent months, Johnson—a fixture of the network’s Democratic primary analysis—has drawn considerable heat for his relentlessly anti-Sanders commentary on MSNBC, which has also come under fire from the left for its skeptical and largely negative coverage of the democratic-socialist senator.
…Johnson’s over-the-top remarks also sparked wider calls for MSNBC to fire him, but the network has not officially responded.
Johnson’s temporary sidelining included him not being involved in coverage of last weekend’s Nevada caucuses or the post-game coverage of Tuesday evening’s South Carolina debate, which aired on CBS. In an email to media outlets hyping its post-debate plans, Johnson’s name was nowhere to be found.
The punishment appears to have also cost Johnson his chance to be on-air during the network’s coverage of this past Saturday’s Nevada caucuses, which Sanders won in a landslide.
Johnson’s absence has been noticeable, as he has become a staple of MSNBC’s Democratic primary analysis roster. Prior to his benching, he made nearly 40 appearances on the network in 2020 alone.
It should be clear that simply opposing Sanders is not the problem. But attacking the black women who support Sanders in such demeaning terms was really over the top.
I am sure that MSNBC has a deep bench of anti-Sanders commentators to fill Johnson’s shoes and continue to its policy of attacking Sanders.
Remember, MSNBC is supposed to be the ‘liberal’ alternative to Fox News, to provide an outlet for the point of view of the Democratic party establishment so the tilt of its coverage is very revealing of establishment views.
“Dr. Jason Johnson” is technically correct and his twitter handle apparently, but I would be happier with a compromise such as “Professional Wrong Person Jason Johnson, Ph.D” (probably too long for twitter though). He’ll quietly come back soon enough, and nothing much will change.
Honestly, I haven’t been following all of it too closely, but I would’ve said Chris Matthews has been more unhinged and awful. Then again, he’s an old white dude … maybe that’s all it takes. On the other hand, I just looked, and there are new reports regarding sexism. On the third hand, MSNBC has been a complete mess lately, so that may not matter either.
Professor Johnson was a much needed voice on MSNBC and television altogether. There needs to be a black perspective on display and more importantly, one that isn’t socially accepted by mainstream white liberals….. speaking the truth. Although, the unacceptable remarks about black women supporters was over the top and must be condemned. I hope to see Dr. Johnson’s return to television because his insight is necessarily needed.
One other thought, until/if Dr Johnson does return, while we wait, bring on Tim Wise to give a view of white privilege since white liberals don’t like to deal with the truth. Just a thought.