Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the deputy chair Democratic National Committee (DNC), said he was offended when he was confronted about his prior ties to Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam.
Ellison was asked by a Jewish student about the matter at an April event hosted by the Harvard Institute for Politics. Ellison responded to the question by downplaying the Nation of Islam’s influence.
“They don’t have any influence,” Ellison said. “Nobody listens to them. They don’t have any answers for anyone. Nobody’s paying any attention to them. I’m telling you, they’re not.”
Ellison proceeded to claim that efforts to tie him and others to Farrakhan are nothing more than “a smear.”
“It is frustrating to be pulled out and be in and it’s like it’s your daily moment to denounce anti-Semitism,” Ellison said. “We denounce it. We absolutely denounce it. We think it is reprehensible, murderous, and genocidal. And it offends me that anyone would insist that I do it one more time.”
Ellison also cited criticisms against the Congressional Black Caucus for their connections to Farrakhan as “offensive.”
“The Black Caucus has fought for justice more than any other caucus in the United States Congress, period, and that’s who is being questioned about whether we really stand against hatred,” Ellison said. “It’s offensive.”
Ellison was involved with the Nation of Islam for at least a decade – contradicting his claims that he was only involved with them for 18 months – and repeatedly defended Farrakhan from accusations of anti-Semitism under the bylines of “Keith Hakim” and “Keith X.” When Ellison ran for office in 2006, he claimed that he had renounced his past associations with Farrakhan, but he reportedly met with Farrakhan at least three times since he has been in Congress.
Scores of other congressional Democrats have ties to Farrakhan as well, including Reps. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and James Clyburn (D-SC), as well three Women’s March leaders.
In addition to his ties to Farrakhan, Ellison has allegedly claimed that “Jews were themselves oppressors”, said that the 9/11 terror attacks were analogous to the Reichstag fire and defended Kwame Ture, also known as Stokely Carmichael, who once wrote, “The only good Zionist is a dead Zionist.” A donor to Ellison also reportedly called for Israelis to be bombed.
H/T: Daily Wire
