The Rev. Sharpton made clear this morning that he is absolutely fine with Harold Ford running against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand — but said he’ll have more of an opinion after he meets with him late today.

“I don’t discourage people from running,” said Sharpton. “When I ran (for office), people told me not to run.”

And he predicted there could be a backlash from all the bullying of Ford.

“They make the issue keeping people out of the race than making the issue the issues of the race. That’s not a smart move,” he said.

“There very well could be (a backlash) if this continues.”

Sharpton’s in an interesting position on this issue – he has been generally fine with Gillibrand since she was appointed last year. He’s also established a strong connection with the Obama White House, which has made protecting GIllibrand a priority.