On May 25, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pinned down George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, leading to his death. A handcuffed Floyd protested, “I can’t breathe.” In the aftermath, protesters across the country took to the streets. In Minneapolis, police arrested CNN journalist Omar Jimenez and his crew as they tried to cover unfolding events. On Friday, Chauvin was arrested and charged with murder and manslaughter.

A majority of guests CNN and MSNBC invited -- 86% and 73%, respectively -- to discuss the killing of Floyd and the resulting protests since May 26 were Black. However, only 37% of guests who appeared on Fox News to discuss Floyd’s killing in the same time period were Black. By contrast, 57% of guests Fox invited to discuss the case were white.

According to Media Matters' internal database, the top guests on each network were:

CNN guests

Appearances

Laura Coates

6

Bakari Sellers

5

Benjamin Crump

3

Charles Ramsey

3

Philonise Floyd

3

Andrea Jenkins

3

Joey Jackson

3

Keith Ellison

2

Melvin Carter

2

Van Jones

2

Don Lemon

2

Fox News guests

Appearances

Dan Bongino

3

Lawrence Jones

3

Ted Williams

3

Geraldo Rivera

2

Lisa Boothe

2

Jason Nichols

2

MSNBC guests

Appearances

Al Sharpton

5

Eddie Glaude Jr.

4

Benjamin Crump

4

Paul Butler

4

Keith Ellison

4

Marq Claxton

3

Eugene Robinson 

3

Marc Morial 

3

Brandt Williams 

2

Frank Figliuzzi

2

Rodney Floyd

2

Stephen Jackson

2

Joy Reid

2

Maya Wiley

2

Jelani Cobb

2

Jacob Frey

2

Jeremiah Ellison

2

Here is a complete list of guests on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC from May 26 through noon EST, May 29, 2020.

Media Matters’ internal database includes weekday cable news programming on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC between the hours of 6 a.m. EST and midnight. Segments are coded in near-real time by analysts for pertinent information. We searched our database for guest segments from May 26 through noon EST on May 29, 2020, that included “George Floyd” in the segment notes.

We used publicly available self-identification when assessing an individual’s race or ethnicity, and where we could not find such self-identification, we used our best judgment. Media Matters is committed to accurate data and will issue any corrections brought to our attention.