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Home · Politics

MSNBC Contributor Jason Johnson 'No Longer Employed' At The Root

Johnson has faced backlash since his controversial comment last month that Black women working on Sen. Bernie Sanders's campaign are from the "Island of Misfit Black Girls."
MSNBC Contributor Jason Johnson Out At The Root After ‘Misfit Black Girls’ Comments  About Sanders’s Campaign Staff
By ESSENCE Staff · Updated November 4, 2020

Political analyst Jason Johnson is no longer employed at African American digital platform The Root, where he served as a contributing political editor, after his controversial comment that Black women working on Sen. Bernie Sanders’s campaign are from the “Island of Misfit Black Girls,” the Daily Beast reports.

Johnson made the comments when he was a guest on Sirius FM’s Karen Hunter Show last month. While he made it clear that he was not speaking about Nina Turner, national co-chair for Sanders’s campaign and former Ohio State Senator, he admitted that he was referring to Briahna Joy Gray, the campaign’s national press secretary.

To be clear and fair to @KarenHunter and her show, she disavows @DrJasonJohnson's complete and utter horsesht smear here: (and he apparently is saying @briebriejoy specifically, comes "from the island of misfit black girls," whatever tf that is supposed to mean.) https://t.co/H5lf38skjh pic.twitter.com/lRMGRLEkIv

— ⌖Joe Biden is the Architect of Mass Incarceration⌖ (@SleepyDjango) February 21, 2020

Critics called out the MSNBC contributor for his arguably misgynoirist statements, with some starting the hashtag #FireJasonJohnson, which quickly went viral. The cable network acted swiftly, suspending Johnson in the wake of the escalating pushback on social media.

And Johnson’s apology last month was not enough.

Earlier this week in a conversation about the Sanders campaign and the behavior of his staff and supporters I referred to his campaign spokesperson as coming from the Island of Misfit Black Girls. It was a harmful and unnecessary comment and I apologize.

— Jason Johnson (@DrJasonJohnson) February 22, 2020

According to the Daily Beast, Johnson, who is also an associate professor of politics and journalism in Morgan State University’s School of Global Journalism & Communication, “made 40 on-air appearances in the first two months of 2020, including post-game coverage of the several Democratic primary debates and votes.”

Though Johnson has not issued a statement, he has removed his affiliation with The Root from his Twitter profile.

TOPICS:  Jason Johnson The Root
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