Subscribers to Afripost, a YouTube channel with a purported mission to "preach black consciousness," are regularly met with videos of anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan railing against Jews as "enemies" who control black people. One of those subscribers is New York Democratic congressman Jamaal Bowman.
Afripost regularly features video of Farrakhan, who has compared Jews to "termites" and praised Adolf Hitler as a "very great man." The channel's host calls Farrakhan a "minister who really fights and speaks against issues and the ills of society that are targeting black people." Bowman subscribes to the conspiracy theory channels via his own YouTube channel, "Inner Peace," the Daily Beast reported Wednesday.
The thumbnail to one of Afripost's videos from this week, titled "Minister Louis Farrakhan Exposes Hidden Secret About Black and J£WS [sic]: TRUTH SETS US FREE," says that "blacks are the true Jews" and features a Farrakhan speech in which the Nation of Islam minister asks if black people are controlled by "Jewish leaders."
"You will not lead black people, being controlled by Jews, you will not lead black people being controlled by our enemies. You either come out and stand for us, or you get the hell away from us," Farrakhan said in the speech. "Who is your master? Is it God? Is it Jesus Christ? Or is it the Jewish leaders in America? Who is your master?"
The channel's host said at the end of the video that his mission is to find "the remaining true son of Africa" and "preach black consciousness." The host said his channel highlights Farrakhan, alongside other leaders, because they have "really championed issues that matter to the black person in the African continent."
News of Bowman's connection to the channel comes as the congressman has alienated Jewish voters with anti-Israel rhetoric since Oct. 7, accusing Israel of "mass murder," "genocide," and "ethnic cleansing." Far-left groups that excuse Hamas's terrorism are working to boost Bowman's embattled primary campaign, in which the two-term congressman finds himself 17 points behind pro-Israel challenger George Latimer.
One of the Hamas apologist groups campaigning to get Bowman across the finish line, MoveOn, has defended Linda Sarsour as a "leader in the fight for justice for all of us." Sarsour, who also has ties to Farrakhan, was ousted from the anti-Donald Trump group she helped lead, the Women's March, over her track record of anti-Semitism.
This is not the first time Bowman has dabbled in conspiracy theories. The New York congressman penned a poem that called the 9/11 attacks a false-flag operation that the government used to wage war in the Middle East, the Daily Beast reported this year. That news prompted harsh backlash from Thomas Von Essen, who was the New York City fire commissioner on 9/11.
"I've been dealing with these imbeciles for over 20 years now, where I've been accused of planting bombs every 10 floors in the Trade Center and things like that," Von Essen told Politico.
Bowman has indicated that he spends much of his time surfing the internet, specifically on YouTube.
During a Jan. 14 panel discussion titled "Palestine Oct. 7th and After," Bowman gushingly introduced anti-Israel author Norman Finkelstein, who celebrated Hamas's massacre as "heroic resistance" that "warm[ed] every fiber" of his soul. "I'm also a bit starstruck, because I watch them all the time on YouTube," Bowman said of Finkelstein and two other anti-Israel panelists. "You have given me the knowledge on YouTube even before coming here."
He later retracted the statement.
"I had seen a few interviews but was unaware of Norman Finkelstein's completely reprehensible comments before this event," Bowman tweeted in January.
Bowman did not return a request for comment.