Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan spoke in Tehran Sunday, leading chants of "death to Israel" and "death to America," according to Iranian news agencies.
Farrakhan is a well-documented bigot, having made deeply misogynistic, homophobic, and anti-Semitic comments. The Anti-Defamation League describes the Nation of Islam as having "a consistent record of anti-Semitism" since the 1930s. Farrakhan called Jews "termites" earlier this month, and has called Adolf Hitler a "great man."
Farrakhan's trip to Iran comes just as the United States prepares to reimplement sanctions against the nation, Fox News reports. Speaking alongside Secretary of Iran's Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaee to Iranian law students, Farrakhan referred to the United States as "Satan" and voiced support for Iranian opposition to American interests. "I understand how the enemies have plotted against the Iranian people and I would like to stay alongside you to stop their plots," he said.
https://twitter.com/Hassanvand/status/1059180247265001472
Prominent Democrats have at times failed to call out and at times embraced Farrakhan.
President Bill Clinton shared a stage with Farrakhan at Aretha Franklin’s funeral. His daughter Chelsea Clinton, however, called on Democrats to condemn Farrakhan following his "termites" comment.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder posed for a photograph with him at Franklin's funeral.
President Barack Obama posed for a photograph with Farrakhan in 2005. The photographer, Askia Muhammad, admitted earlier this year that he had suppressed the photograph for fear Obama may be tied to Farrakhan during his presidential campaigns. He said the photograph "absolutely would have made a difference."
Linda Sarsour, a leader of the Women’s March and prominent progressive figure, has maintained ties to Farrakhan. She also has ties to unindicted terror co-conspirators and publicly expressed a wish to "take away" the vagina of an insufficiently progressive woman. She has repeatedly declined to condemn Farrakhan.
Tamika Mallory, another Women’s March leader, has called Farrakhan the "GOAT," greatest of all time, and defended him on multiple occasions, forcing some of the March’s organizers to apologize to Jewish supporters for the pain she caused.
Rep. Danny Davis (D., Ill.), called Farrakhan "an outstanding human being."
At least one of Davis’ colleagues has tried to publicly distance himself from the minister. Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.,), the Democratic National Committee vice chair, claims he cut ties with the minister, with whom he had a long-running relationship. The Washington Post gave that claim Four Pinnochios, documenting several times they have been together in recent years. Ellison is running for attorney general of Minnesota.
Few in the liberal media have taken Farrakhan’s prominence seriously or asked Democrats to disavow him.
The reason Bill Clinton and other Democratic leaders can share a stage with this man is because, with the exception of Jake Tapper, most of the media looks the other way. If an R stood next to David Duke, the MSM’s hammering would never stop. https://t.co/0HlLalzVwQ
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) November 5, 2018
Jake Tapper at CNN has been one of the few hosts on the network to repeatedly denounce Farrakhan on Twitter and challenge those publicly associating with him.