Why have Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson been silent during this election?

Because they are irrelevant.

I haven’t noticed Jesse Jackson commenting on politics in a pretty long time. Maybe when Obama was running the first time? But here’s something.

Al Sharpton is a commentator for MSNBC now – so he’s actually been in the spotlight a lot, though maybe he can’t appear on other networks much due to his contract. Also, this piece from The Daily Show (which I can’t see because I’m a Canadian. Dammit, Janet!).

I think both are cool with Bernie and Hillary. And well, the right is being pretty thorough in making sure black people won’t vote for them. So no real need to interject.

I was wondering the same thing. I was wondering why they aren’t saying more about the Republicans actually. Especially Trump.

Sharpton & Jackson are just plain unnecessary this time to bitch about the shortfalls in candidate suitability on the right. The 2 of them truly are irrelevant this time when it comes to laying out the flaws on the right for their black constituents. I mean things are so blatantly obvious this time, that if you can’t spot them for yourself, you are incapable of understanding any possible explanation.

Because they thrive on racial division and the only black person running was on “the wrong side.”

Both of them are old coots who have, as @Rarebear said, passed into irrelevance. They have nothing to add. At least they know it.

IMO the fact that they were not immediately and totally 100% behind Hillary Clinton is very telling for the Clinton campaign.

On the other hand, both Jackson and Sharpton (please, please, please, PLEASE!) are on the cusp of being marginalized, and can’t afford a misstep. Support the nominee or lose their soapboxes.

Sharpton and Jackson may be bright enough (particularly Jackson, because I think Sharpton is as sharp as cooked spaghetti, so maybe Jesse talked to him about this) to refrain from commenting on Trump.

I’ve noted this before in another thread, but it seems to be getting more and more relevant: When “the wrong people” criticize Trump it tends to energize and grow his base. McCain and Romney criticize him; he gains support. BLM protests violently; he gains support.

Having those two criticize him publicly would only cause his base to increase.

They are enjoying a moment of nostalgic bliss.