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.
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.
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.