Al Sharpton and Panel Accuse 'Right-Wing Pundits' of Stoking Racial Fears for Ratings: Beck, O'Reilly, Limbaugh Specialize in 'White Grievance

(MSNBC)

On "Politics Nation" Wednesday, MSNBC host Al Sharpton and his panel agreed that "right-wing pundits" like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly are stoking racial fears to boost their ratings. Some might call this accusation ironic as many argue that Sharpton has built an entire career by doing that exact thing.

MSNBC contributor Joy Reid asserted that successful conservative personalities, including the ones previously mentioned, have carved out a special niche in talk radio by actively promoting "white grievance" to their old, white audiences.

“All of these people are destroying what they see as their America, and that siege bunker mentality is great for ratings because it keeps people on edge, angry, and feeling like they need to hear from their guru every day. So it’s all done for ratings, but it doesn’t deal with real problems," Reid said.

Sharpton agreed with her argument, chiming in with a "yeah" during her comments. He previously argued that conservatives are "afraid of" having a real conversation about the issues that affect the black community and slammed O'Reilly for saying the "disintegration" of the black family is a huge contributor to problems within the black community.

Sharpton went on to say it is "very telling" that conservatives won't talk about important racial issues, like "racial injustice and profiling," but want to address things like violence in the black community and promoting a strong family unit.

Watch the MSNBC clip via Mediaite:

Earlier in the program, radio host Joe Madison claimed that conservative radio hosts are afraid of "blacks, Hispanics and women."

"This all boils down to the ballot box. And this is the time to take the conversation into action and start forming, if there ever was a time, it's right for coalition building," he said. "If you build a political and social coalition of African-Americans, women and Hispanics" and progressive white males, "then you've got a political force that changes the very political culture of this country. And that's really what they're afraid of."

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