Republican CNN Analyst Gets Accused Of ‘Anti-Blackness’ As Anchor Cuts Off Segment Mid-Brawl

Republican CNN analyst Shermichael Singleton was accused of “anti-Blackness” in a contentious fracas with pro-Kamala Harris guest Michael Blake that anchor John Berman had to cut off in mid-sentence due to a hard segment break.

Going into Election Day, the expectation was that it would be a close presidential race that could take days or longer to have a decision. But once polls began to close and the results poured in, it was only a matter of hours before outlets called the race for President-elect Donald Trump.

One of Trump’s signature promises was to institute unprecedented “mass deportation,” even as exit polls showed immigration fell relatively low as a priority and a large 56% majority support offering migrants a path to citizenship.

On Thursday’s post-election edition of CNN News Central, Singleton set Blak off by citing a 1988 paper by the VP’s estranged father Donald J. Harris:

JOHN BERMAN: How do you think they should go about that or what do you think the parameters might be?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON: Well, I do, I guess question what the systematic approach would be. This is an interesting topic to me.

In 1988, Vice President Harris’s father, who’s an economist, renowned economist, taught at Stanford for a number of years, wrote a very interesting treatise, he’s talking about immigration at the time and how an influx of illegal immigration creates competition for lower-skilled Americans. And I thought that was fascinating.

So if that’s the premise of the argument from the Trump administration or the incoming administration, I certainly understand it.

And so the question for me becomes, if you’re going to remove criminals, I think most Americans would say, yeah, that makes perfect sense.

In terms of people who are actively working in the country. What is the approach for them to become legalized citizens? What does that look like? How much time does it take? Is there a fee or a fine associated with them coming into the country illegally and having stayed for so much time?

I think most Americans would say, well, that’s an approach that seems logical. I can understand it as systematic. It makes a lot of sense. You’re not harming people or ripping people across or families apart.

So that’s how I would personally want to approach this, John, and remove criminals. In terms of other individuals that are contributing to our society, have a systematic approach to gain citizenship.

JOHN BERMAN: What about the Dreamers?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON: And the Dreamers– I would put them in that. (BLAKE OVERTALKING) Well, hold on Michael. I’m not done yet. Just give me a second.

I would also put Dreamers in that same category. You need to allow people to have an approach to to earn their citizenship. And again, people who came in legally but are contributing, there should be some type of a fine associated.

President Obama talked about it in the past. Hillary Clinton talked about that in the past. I think you could see bipartisanship agreement on that point.

JOHN BERMAN: Michael, we really have 15 seconds left cause we got to go. But go ahead.

MICHAEL BLAKE: The anti-Blackness that just happened in Sir Michael’s comments is very concerning. The reference he just utilized is the vice president’s father when talking about a policy on illegal immigrants.

Let’s be very clear. There is one entity that has been pushing this, and this is Donald Trump. And that is why Democrats have to counter that every step–.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON: Well, Michael, John, I mean, most Americans are worried about immigration. I didn’t use an anti-Black policy. Michael, you’re not talking to Donald Trump. John asked me my specific points on this. This is how I would address it. I think a lot of Democrats would also say this is just a map.

MICHAEL BLAKE: Your specific point was to find one example from 1988, referencing the vice president’s father. Which is– (audio cuts out)

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON: I can list a litany of examples, Michael, let’s not call B.S. this morning. Immigration is a problem.

But you chose– (audio cuts in and out).

Most Americans find it to be a problem, including many Democrats.

JOHN BERMAN: We’re going to we got it. We got to end this discussion here. We will have it. We will have it over the next several months. And it very much seems the next several years for Michael. Thanks, Michael. Blake, I appreciate you both being with me this morning.

Watch above via CNN News Central.