Sen. Cory Booker said at a campaign event that he would be willing to meet with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
“I live in Newark, so we have famous Mosque 25, we have Nation of Islam there,” the New Jersey Democrat said Saturday at a “Conversation with Cory” campaign event in Nevada. “As mayor I met with lots of folks talking to him. I have heard Minister Farrakhan’s speeches for a lot of my life, so I don’t feel like I need to do that, but I’m not one of these people that says I wouldn’t sit down with anybody to hear what they have to say. But, I live in a neighborhood where I’m getting guys on the streets offering and selling his works. I am very familiar with Minister Louis Farrakhan and his beliefs and his values.”
Booker’s response came after an audience member asked if he would avoid meeting with Farrakhan because of his anti-Semitism.
Farrakhan has a long history of making anti-Semitic comments, leading the Anti-Defamation League to describe him in 2018 as “virtually synonymous with anti-Semitism.”
He has called Jews “satanic” and praised Hitler as a “great man.” Farrakhan also spouts various anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, including claims they secretly control many different countries, use marijuana to feminize black men, and were behind the transatlantic slave trade, among other theories.
Booker’s willingness to meet with Farrakhan comes after he said he was ‘disappointed’ by Joe Biden touting this work segregationist senators.
“Vice President Biden’s relationships with proud segregationists are not the model for how we make America a safer and more inclusive place for black people, and for everyone,” Booker said.
