A Democratic congressman confirmed Sunday that he has an ongoing personal relationship with Louis Farrakhan and said that he is not concerned about the Nation of Islam leader's anti-Semitic beliefs.
Illinois Rep. Danny Davis (D.) told the Daily Caller earlier this month that Farrakhan is an "outstanding human being," adding that he has met with the controversial imam on multiple occasions.
"I don't regard Louis Farrakhan as an aberration or anything; I regard him as an outstanding human being who commands a following of individuals who are learned and articulate. And he plays a big role in the lives of thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people," Davis said at the time.
The Anti-Defamation League investigated Davis' comments, and said that the congressman's office told the group that he had been "misquoted." In new comments to the Daily Caller over the weekend, however, Davis contradicted his office's claim that he had been misquoted.
"Nah, I don't have no problems with Farrakhan; I don't spend a whole lot of my time dealing with those kind of things," Davis said.
"I'm a pretty global individual. So I know Farrakhan, I know the Middle East question, I know the Jews and Farrakhan—I know all that, but that's not what I spend all my time focused on," Davis continued, saying he has known Farrakhan for "years and years and years."
"The world is so much bigger than Farrakhan and the Jewish question and his position on that and so forth," Davis added. "For those heavy into it, that's their thing, but it ain't my thing."
Anti-bigotry organizations have long characterized Farrakhan as both racist and anti-Semitic. The Nation of Islam leader has previously called Adolf Hitler a "very great man" and said that white people are subhumans created by an ancient African scientist.