Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan on Sunday praised Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.) for her anti-Semitic language, saying she has "nothing to apologize for."
Farrakhan, who has a long history of using anti-Semitic language, including comparing Jews to "termites" last October, delivered remarks at his movement’s Saviours’ Day conference in Chicago. During the two-hour speech, he talked about the need to break up Democracy before he went on to praise the 102 women in Congress, specifically Omar.
He began by referencing Rep. Rashida Tlaib's (D., Mich.) "impeach the motherfucker" line about President Donald Trump, calling it "funny language" and went on to talk about widely-condemned tweets from Omar. The congresswoman was pressured to apologize last week after a tweet was widely condemned as anti-Semitic, receiving backlash from Democratic colleagues, Jewish organizations and even Chelsea Clinton.
"Ms. Omar from Somalia – she started talking about 'the Benjamins' and they are trying to make her apologize. Sweetheart, don't do that. Pardon me for calling you sweetheart, but you do have a sweet heart. You sure are using it to shake the government up, but you have nothing to apologize for," Farrakhan said. "Israel and AIPAC pays off senators and congressmen to do their bidding, so you're not lying, so if you're not lying. Stop laying down. You were sent there by the people to shake up that corrupt House."
Farrakhan then appeared to mock some of the Democratic members of Congress who condemned her remarks, specifically Rep. Gerry Connolly (D., Va.), who said Omar needed to "temper" her views. Connolly also came to her defense, however, by saying she was "new" to Congress and "young."
"Oh she's just 'young.' She just got here. Don't be so hard on her," Farrakhan said mockingly. "My beautiful sisters, you were sent there to shake that House up. Your people voted you in, but God is the overseer."
Omar has a history of using anti-Semitic rhetoric and is one of the only lawmakers who openly support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Omar, after first wondering why Jewish Americans would be offended, recently said she used unfortunate language in a 2012 tweet where she wrote Israel had committed "evil" acts and "hypnotized the world." She recently compared Israel to Iran, the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism, and said she was amused at the idea of the Jewish state being considered a democracy.
In addition, she and Tlaib support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel, known as BDS. The BDS movement has links to Palestinian terrorist organizations. The Anti-Defamation League has condemned it, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said BDS is anti-Semitism in action.
When asked by a CNN reporter last week why she supported BDS, Omar immediately walked away.