MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin asked Georgia state legislator Vernon Jones (D) if he supports President Trump only because he’s “being compensated,” leading to a fiery response from Jones in an interview that aired on the network Wednesday morning.
Jones joined Melvin on MSNBC, where the discussion quickly went off the rails.
“Are you a paid campaign surrogate? Are you being compensated?” Melvin asked Jones.
“Let me be clear. You get paid to shape a liberal narrative. You get paid to attack this president,” Jones fired back. “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. See, that’s the problem. When an African American —”
“Sir, I did not raise your race,” Melvin contended.
“Let me finish. Let me finish now. Let me finish,” Jones retorted.
“No, no, wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You’re not going to imply that I asked that question because you’re Black,” Melvin insisted.
“So don’t ask me that. You only ask me that because I don’t fit your narrative. I don’t want anything from this president,” Jones said.
“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 and that’s representative of MSNBC and their narrative to keep Blacks silent who happen to support this president,” Jones said.
“Why can’t I be like white liberals or other whites, nobody question if they’re getting paid. So do you ask Democrats are they getting paid? Are you getting paid by Joe Biden? Have you ever asked any host —”
“I have,” Melvin said.
“Whether they have been paid by Joe Biden? I haven’t heard,” Jones replied.
“State Representative Jones. Thank you. Do come back. It’s an open invitation,” Melvin said after some crosstalk.
“I’d like to come back,” Jones replied.
The back and forth comes after MSNBC host Tiffany Cross asked Trump supporter Bruce LaVell during a July 25 interview if he was compensated to support Trump.
“When I see folks like you support this president, has Donald Trump ever promised you anything financially in exchange for your blind support?” Cross asked. “On the record, can you tell us if he promised you anything financially or otherwise?”
“No, and I’ve known him since 2015,” LaVell said. “He promised he wanted to get black unemployment low, get it down and create jobs. He wanted to bring back and generate generational wealth.”
President Trump received 8 percent of the Black vote in 2016, a 2 percent increase from the 6 percent Republican nominee Mitt Romney received in 2012.