Sen. Cory Booker (D., NJ) refused to rule out meeting with anti-Semite and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan during a faith breakfast in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday.
"I have met – I live in Newark so we have famous Mosque 25, we have Nation of Islam there," the 2020 presidential candidate said. "As mayor I met with lots of folks talking to him. I have heard Minister Farrakhan’s speeches for a lot of my life, so I don’t feel like I need to do that, but I’m not one of these people that says I wouldn’t sit down with anybody to hear what they have to say. But, I live on a neighborhood where I’m getting guys on the streets offering and selling his works. I am very familiar with Minister Louis Farrakhan and his beliefs and his values."
Farrakhan is a notorious anti-Semite.
In October 2018 he compared Jews to termites.
"I'm not mad at you because you're so stupid," Farrakhan continued. "So when they talk about Farrakhan, call me a hater, you do what they do, call me an anti-Semite. Stop it, I’m anti-termite."
In 1997, he argued Jewish influence in government repressed black Americans.
"I believe that for the small numbers of Jewish people in the United States, they exercise a tremendous amount of influence on the affairs of government," Farrakhan said. "Yes, they exercise extraordinary control, and Black people will never be free in this country until they are free of that kind of control..."
He has also called Hitler a great man.
"The Jews don’t like Farrakhan, so they call me Hitler," Farrakhan said. "Well, that’s a good name. Hitler was a very great man."