Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.), a leading candidate to become the next chair of the Democratic National Committee, did not deny Wednesday on MSNBC's Morning Joe that he previously praised anti-Semitic leader Louis Farrakhan, instead blaming "bad reporting" for his comments because it takes attention away from important issues today.
Co-host Joe Scarborough asked Ellison about a CNN report showing past comments he made calling Nation of Islam leader Farrakhan a "role model" and "not an anti-Semite," as well as the lawmaker defending violent elements of the far-left.
Ellison praised Farrakhan as "a role model for black youth" in a 1995 op-ed for for Insight News, adding that he "is not an anti-Semite," CNN reported earlier this month.
Ellison, the first Muslim ever elected to Congress, had also defended violent far-left elements, CNN noted.
As recent as 2000, Ellison publicly defended violent, fringe elements of the far-left. He appeared at a fundraiser that year for domestic terrorist Sara Jane Olson, a member of the self-styled revolutionary group the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), which is best known for kidnapping heiress Patricia Hearst. Olson was apprehended in 1999 in relation to the 1975 attempted bombings of two police cars and the slaying of Myrna Opsah during a bank robbery.
Scarborough asked Ellison to address his past actions.
"I think that it is bad reporting because I have a ten-year record in Congress, I have a four-year record in the Minnesota state house, I practiced law for 16 years," Ellison said. "I think it's just that kind of reporting that, you know, that just sort of is not quality and doesn't help people understand the real issues."
"Do you believe that Louis Farrakhan is an anti-Semite?" Scarborough asked.
"Sure, but I mean, what does he have to do with anything that is going on in this race or this country at this time? Absolutely nothing," Ellison said.
Scarborough again noted Ellison's positive comments about Farrakhan, to which the congressman responded that they were discussing something that happened over 20 years ago.
Ellison had prior ties to the Nation of Islam but distanced himself from the group as he was running for Congress in 2006. The Nation of Islam recently called Ellison "cowardly" for running away from his prior support of Farrakhan as he campaigns to head the DNC.
Ellison's bid for DNC chair is currently supported by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), among other prominent Democrats.