Atlanta radio host Steve Harvey responded to Dr. Umar Johnson’s allegations that he and radio host Rickey Smiley are paid to support Vice President Kamala Harris.
Dr. Umar is the latest public figure to expose Harris’ campaign for paying influencers to interview the candidate.
Umar criticized radio hosts Steve Harvey and Rickey Smiley for taking money from the Harris campaign to “shame Black people into voting.”
READ ALSO: Another TikToker says Kamala Harris tried to pay for an endorsement
Dr. Umar said the Harris campaign approached him with an offer of $10,000 to do an interview with Harris.
“I don’t want your money, but we can definitely do the interview,” Umar said. “Yes we can do the interview. Keep your damn money. King Kong Konsciousness ain’t for sale… I’m not no Rickey Smiley, Steve Harvey. You don’t drop no check off and say get the Negroes to the plantation on November the 4th.”
Umar said Steve Harvey and Rickey Smiley only support Harris because they’re getting paid.
“Y’all only carried on ’cause y’all got paid to carry on,” he said. “Kamala Harris and the Democratic plantation is paying you celebrities – paying you to shame Black people into voting. Y’all know we not gonna get nothing out of that vote… But they’re being paid – y’all being bought!”
??BREAKING NEWS: Civil Rights activist Dr. Umar Rashad Ibn Abdullah-Johnson announced that Kamala Harris’s team offered him $10,000 for an interview with Kamala Harris.
Dr. Umar also uploaded text messages proving his claim and says Kamala Harris’s team is also paying Rickey… pic.twitter.com/z8njeuKDBw
— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) August 15, 2024
However, Harvey insisted he doesn’t do anything for $10,000. “Listen man, I don’t do nothing for $10,000,” he said. “Don’t insult the brand equity that I’ve built over these 30 years.”
“I’m doing this absolutely free of charge because I want this country to be in her hands as opposed to Donald Trump’s hands,” Harvey insisted.
“Me and Rickey Smiley happen to be on the same page. We’re Ques [Omega Psi Phi fraternity members] and so is Rickey Smiley. Ques kinda run the airwaves of Black radio,” Harvey said. “But we also understand what’s at stake here. So, no, I haven’t received a single dollar from anybody to do what I do. I’m doing it gladly for free. And I’m going to freely have her on here again and again and again.”
Harvey confirmed he will continue to lob softball questions during his next interview with Harris.
“I am going to freely ask soft a*s questions,” Harvey said. “I am going to freely lob the basketball so she can slam dunk all these questions. Yes, I am going to freely sit here and agree. So, the Black vote is not for sale, but it is a very important bloc of votes that can control the outcome of this election.”
He added: “And if I have my way, if it is within God’s will, she will be the next president of the United States. Because the alternative — see it’s only 2 people running for president: it’s Kamala Harris, Madame Vice President Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. That’s the choice.”
Steve Harvey responds to Dr. Umar, who claims he and Rickey Smiley are getting paid to endorse Kamala Harris's presidential campaign.
(? The Steve Harvey Morning Show) pic.twitter.com/n6mW4pBMHq
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) August 20, 2024