Mr. Velshi,
You have recently been featured in two MSNBC ads.
In one ad you tell the story that your father once ran for office and lost. But he explained to you that the important thing was not that he won or lost but that his family now lived in a country where he was allowed to run.
In the second ad you say you are standing where a democracy is fighting for its right to exist. You say there are no borders to this battle. You then say when democracy is under attack, as journalists, it is our duty to “shine a light” on what is happening.
You were born in Kenya. I am sure you are aware of the challenges Kenya has had with achieving fair elections. Thousands have been killed in Kenya and hundreds of thousands displaced greatly as a result of stolen elections or at least claims thereof.
Like your father I too thought I lived in a country where anyone could run for office in a fair election. But I was wrong. MSNBC program hosts and guests lied about me while I was a U.S. Senate candidate in 2018. Thus, they helped U.S. government officials steal an election that I was winning.
You undoubtedly know Chris Hayes and Joy Reid very well. It was them that made direct verbal attacks on American democracy by referring to me as “convicted felon” during the 2018 West Virginia U.S. Senate election. Yet they, nor you, nor anyone else at MSNBC has “shed any light” on our democracy being under attack. Surely you have known for years that both Hayes and Reid falsely called me a “convicted felon” on national television as election dayapproached.
Is it your position that Americans, like Kenyans, have to tolerate false reporting about candidates for public office with no Press coverage about the falsities until a war breaks out?
Again my question for you is, “why have you, Chris Hayes, Joy Reid nor anyone at MSNBC “shed light” on this MSNBC tactic of sabotaging an American election or at a minimum of making an election unfair”. Clearly MSNBC is anything but a proponent of democracy. If it is true that your family had the experiences you claim it did then you should be particularly ashamed of MSNBC.
In the highly unlikely circumstance you are not aware of the truth of this letter then you have now been made aware. We are all anxious to see you fulfill your duty to “shed light” on why MSNBC allowed its telecasters to lie in order to change the outcome of a U.S. election. If you do so I am sure your Dad would be proud.
Thanks in advance for you “doing your duty” and “shedding some light” on MSNBC’s attack on American democracy.
Sincerely,
Don Blankenship