Host of Honestly Speaking, Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline during the May 5, 2026, airing of his show. Photo: Facebook

(L-R) Talking Points Co-hosts Damion C. Grange, Elvin G. Grant, and guest Hon Marlon A. Penn during the May 4, 2026, airing of Talking Points. Photo: Facebook

Hon Marlon A. Penn, Chairman of the National Democratic Party, poked fun at Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline’s radio show, asking whether it was Honestly Speaking or Dishonestly Speaking during the May 4, 2026, airing of Talking Points. Photo: Facebook

Skelton-Cline has long been a public critic of all the members of the House of Assembly (HoA) and the respective parties from the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) to the NDP. 

Following the NDP’s internal elections in April 2026, where Hon Penn emerged as Chairman and Hon Melvin M. Turnbull (R2) as Deputy Chairman over Hon Ronnie W. Skelton (AL) and former legislator Mark H. Vanterpool, Skelton-Cline warned the younger members not to alienate the “old guards of the party”. 

Honestly Speaking or Dishonestly Speaking- Hon Penn

Hon Penn, who appeared on Talking Points on ZBVI 780 AM on Monday, May 4, 2026, was asked about this particular point by Talking Points Co-host Elvin G. Grant. 

“I wonder where you got that from, Honestly Speaking or Dishonestly Speaking,” Hon Penn jabbed with a chuckle, before saying, “There’s no truth to that.”

Skelton-Cline, in turn, responded to Hon Penn’s statements one day later, during the May 5, 2026, airing of his show, saying, “All he can do is make mention of this programme in a disparaging way.”

Busy playing politics- Skelton-Cline

“That's the extent of their leadership. This is the newly elected Chair who wants to convince this country that he and whomever his team is going to be…But you mean to tell me that persons can be so intellectually lazy; before they expend and take the time and the opportunities in these programmes, on these formats and articulate a vision for this country? No, we don't do that.”

Instead, he said, the time is spent disparaging each other and playing politics,” while the needs of the people of the Virgin Islands (VI) go unmet. 

“Something is wrong with the soul of this country. But y'all want us to elect you. We want, y'all want us to keep you empowered,” Skelton-Cline lamented.