In an unexpected twist during a live broadcast, Al Sharpton of MS NOW had to abruptly cut to a commercial break when his guest, a Democratic congressman, struggled to unmute his microphone.

During Saturday’s segment of PoliticsNation, Sharpton set the stage for a powerful critique of President Donald Trump’s controversial remarks about Somali migrants. Rhode Island’s Rep. Gabe Amo, a guest on the show, was expected to deliver this critique.

Sharpton addressed Amo with a poignant question: “Congressman, as a child of two African immigrants and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus that has condemned these insults and attacks, what is your reaction to what we’ve been hearing in recent days from this administration?”

However, the anticipated sharp response to Trump’s inflammatory comment about Somalis from Minnesota being “garbage” was not forthcoming. Mere moments after Amo began his reply, Sharpton could be heard softly saying, “I don’t hear him.”

About six seconds after Amo began speaking, Sharpton quietly whispered, ‘I don’t hear him’. 

‘You’re muted Congressman,’ Sharpton said roughly two seconds later. The panic on Amo’s face was palpable, with his eyes bulging and his pupils flitting back and forth, no doubt desperately searching for the technical issue.

It somehow got even worse for him, as one of his aides had to come to the rescue. She was seen on the left-hand corner of the screen fiddling with Amo’s computer, but to no avail.

‘Can you hear me?’ Amo eventually asked, still with no sound whatsoever.

Pictured: MS NOW host Al Sharpton gets ready to throw the segment over to his guest Rep. Gabe Amo, a Democrat of Rhode Island

Pictured: The moment when Amo realizes that Sharpton and the audience couldn’t hear a word he said

‘You’re still muted. You’re still muted. They’ve been trying to quiet me for years, so I know the feeling,’ Sharpton tried to joke.

Amo barely reacted to the attempt at levity, a weak smile just barely coming through as his pained expression largely remained.

When it was determined that nothing could be done to salvage the segment, Sharpton decided to cut his losses.

‘Alright, let me take a break. And we’ll come right back. We’ll try to straighten it out,’ he said.

The show resumed roughly four minutes later. This time, Amo managed to be audible.

‘The fact of the matter is, this is a continuation of Donald Trump and his attacks on people of color — specifically the African community and people across this country who work hard and are trying to build a good life in this country,’ Amo said after the commercial break.

‘He has transformed from a dog whistle to a loud dog bark, and it’s unfortunate to see the Oval Office be a venue for such hatred and racist remarks that really undermine our values here in this country,’ he added.

Amo was referencing Trump’s lengthy statement on Tuesday about Somalis, who he claimed ‘do nothing but b***h’ and should ‘go back to where they came from’. 

President Donald Trump raged against Somali immigrants on Tuesday, saying they ‘do nothing but b***h’ about America and should ‘go back to where they came from’

‘These are people who do nothing but complain,’ Trump said near the end of a cabinet meeting at the White House. ‘They complain, and from where they came from, they got nothing.’

The impetus for Trump’s comments was the growing attention being paid to the $1 billion fraud against Minnesota’s social safety net by dozens of Somalis.

So far, 59 people have been convicted of stealing public dollars from programs meant to feed children, assist the homeless and provide autism therapy. 

Most of this was done by nonprofits, whose leaders submitted false receipts to the lenient state government so they could get reimbursed for services that were never provided.

Trump’s remarks went far beyond calling out Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who presided over the state the entire time all of this was going on.

In Somalia, ‘they have no anything, they just run around killing each other,’ Trump told the meeting.

‘Their country’s no good for a reason. Their country stinks, and we don’t want them in our country,’ he said.

‘We’re at a tipping point,’ Trump added. ‘We could go one way or the other, and we’re going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.’