Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison, who had a decade-long involvement with the anti-Semitic Nation of Islam, reassured uncommitted anti-Israel voters that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz "hear you" in a speech to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.
"Kamala and Tim, they fight for the people, and they also listen. And when [people] say, ‘We need a cease fire, and an end to the loss of innocent lives in Gaza, and to bring hostages home,' they're listening friends. They agree with us," Ellison said.
Ellison’s comments could placate progressive activists connected to the "uncommitted" movement, which has sought to pressure the Biden administration into cutting off support for Israel. The movement gained some traction in Michigan last February, when anti-Israel activists voted "uncommitted" instead of backing President Joe Biden in the Democratic primary.
"There are people watching tonight, and maybe even here tonight, who aren't sure yet about Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. If you want to know where they stand on some of the most urgent issues facing our country and the world, let me assure you, Kamala and Tim hear you," Ellison added.
Ellison was connected to the Nation of Islam for at least a decade and repeatedly defended its leader, Louis Farrakhan, against charges of anti-Semitism, CNN’s KFile reported in 2016.
In a 1995 op-ed for Insight News, Ellison called Farrakhan a "role model for black youth" and said the Nation of Islam leader was "not an anti-Semite."
Ellison publicly renounced the Nation of Islam movement while running for the U.S. House in 2006. But he continued to meet several times with Farrakhan while serving in Congress, according to news reports.
Farrakhan regularly makes anti-Semitic statements and has called Jewish people the "synagogue of Satan."