Just when you thought that the NASCAR Bubba Wallace controversy was cleared up and over, MSNBC’s Morning Joe made sure to bring it right back into controversy. In an opening segment on Wednesday morning, co-host Willie Geist started up a conversation with MSNBC show host and notorious, Tawana Brawley race baiter Reverend Al Sharpton on the topic of the noose that was found in Bubba Wallace’s car Monday morning.
Geist mentioned that the FBI had stated that the noose wasn’t targeted at Wallace and in fact had been there since early last fall. But those facts didn’t stop Geist from holding tightly onto the fact that there was still a noose, seemingly rejecting the FBI’s conclusions.
So, Reverend Sharpton,what Bubba Wallace is referring to there is other reports that that was actually a door pull for the garage, the way to close the door when it's up and bring it down. But the FBI, as Bubba Wallace said right there, again and again, referred to it as a noose. We should take it as good news that someone didn't place it into his stall specifically as the only full-time black driver in NASCAR who pushed to have those confederate flags removed from NASCAR events, and NASCAR did take that step last week. But it does appear there was a noose, as the FBI is calling it, placed in that garage last fall.
Now, you may recall that in the immediate aftermath of the noose being discovered, NASCAR and the world came together with Wallace, even going so far as to have every driver and their pit crews push his car to the front. After an outpouring of such solidarity and condemnation of racism even before the investigation was completed, you might have thought that this story was over with. But of course, you would be wrong.
Morning Joe's hosts decided to bring Sharpton on the show to talk about it, and as usual he held tightly to the supposed symbols of racism, casting all of NASCAR in that light.
The FBI identified it as a noose. NASCAR said it was a noose or went along with the FBI's characterization. It was a noose. So, the question is, even if they did not know that Bubba Wallace was going to use that stall, why was a noose in the stall? It's clear what a noose represents. And I think to go whether or not they knew that sooner or later the one black driver would use that stall really doesn't answer why it was in the stall at all. And then did someone know that it was in the stall when they did belatedly assign Bubba there? So I don't think this answers a lot of questions. And clearly, from what we just saw of Bubba Wallace, it does not seem he, who is the victim and possible target in this matter, seems to be satisfied with this. So I do not think that we've seen closure in this particular inquiry.
Sharpton and Geist were not the only ones trying to paint NASCAR in a light of overarching racism. Former ESPN writer Jemele Hill got in on the action too on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, saying black people are not welcome at NASCAR races.
There’s not much surprise in today’s America that there is racial divide when the media is so intent on pushing it whenever possible.
Read the full transcript below to learn more.
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
6-24-20
6:51 AM
BUBBA WALLACE: Don, the image that I have and I have seen of what was hanging in my garage is not a garage pull. I've been racing all my life. We've raced out of hundreds of garages that never had garage pulls like that. So, people that want to call it a garage pull and put out all the videos and photos of knots being in there, as their evidence, go ahead. But from the evidence that we have, that I have, it's a straight-up noose. The FBI has stated it was a noose over and over again. NASCAR leadership has stated that it was a noose. I can confirm that. I actually got evidence of what was hanging in my garage, over my car, around my pit crew guys, to confirm that it was a noose, never seen anything like it.
WILLIE GEIST: So, Reverend Sharpton,what Bubba Wallace is referring to there is other reports that that was actually a door pull for the garage, the way to close the door when it's up and bring it down. But the FBI, as Bubba Wallace said right there, again and again, referred to it as a noose. We should take it as good news that someone didn't place it into his stall specifically as the only full-time black driver in NASCAR who pushed to have those confederate flags removed from NASCAR events, and NASCAR did take that step last week. But it does appear there was a noose, as the FBI is calling it, placed in that garage last fall.
AL SHARPTON: The FBI identified it as a noose. NASCAR said it was a noose or went along with the FBI's characterization. It was a noose. So, the question is, even if they did not know that Bubba Wallace was going to use that stall, why was a noose in the stall? It's clear what a noose represents. And I think to go whether or not they knew that sooner or later the one black driver would use that stall really doesn't answer why it was in the stall at all. And then did someone know that it was in the stall when they did belatedly assign Bubba there? So I don't think this answers a lot of questions. And clearly, from what we just saw of Bubba Wallace, it does not seem he, who is the victim and possible target in this matter, seems to be satisfied with this. So I do not think that we've seen closure in this particular inquiry.
