There are disreputable characters that haunt the ranks of both Republicans and Democrats. The right has its David Dukes and Milo Yiannopouloses; the left has its Oliver Stones and Ward Churchills.

Louis Farrakhan is certainly an embarrassment to Democrats. The Nation of Islam leader is an infamous and vocal anti-Semite with a long history of viciously racist rhetoric. Only last month he was heard on a video insisting that he’s not an anti-Semite, he’s an “anti-termite.” The comment drew criticisms from a few on the left—Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Rep. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), Chelsea Clinton—but otherwise our left-leaning friends seem to prefer that Farrakhan just go away quietly. That’s understandable, perhaps, but regrettable nonetheless.