The Sharpton Shakedown Blues

NY Post Editorial

In a newly released, secretly recorded video, a critic says the Rev. Al Sharpton is all about money.

This, of course, isn’t news. What is news is the critic: the daughter of Eric Garner, whose death sparked nationwide protests led by . . . Sharpton.

“He’s about this,” says Erica Snipes, rubbing her fingers together to indicate money. Asked if she thinks Sharpton is more interested in greenbacks than “justice,” she says yes.

Later, off-camera, she denies having said anything negative about Sharpton. But the video speaks for itself.

Meanwhile, a $20 billion lawsuit by a black-entertainment group charges Sharpton took money and entered into a “diversity” deal with Comcast rather than protest the lack of black-owned networks carried by the cable company.

The company also agreed to keep his show on MSNBC despite lousy ratings, the suit alleges.

All this raises the age-old question: What gives Sharpton any standing at all to speak about black issues? The answer, as we’ve said before: his enablers.

We’re talking about pols like President Obama and Mayor Bill de Blasio, who elevate him as a key consultant. Networks like MSNBC. Average citizens who fall for his demagoguery. Even the IRS, which closes its eyes to his tax debts.

How sad so many people have to learn the hard way — as Erica Snipes apparently has.