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Linda Sarsour Won't Say if She Believes Accusation Ellison Abused His Ex-Girlfriend

The Women's March organizer has vocally protested Kavanaugh's confirmation, supported accusers

October 5, 2018

Women's March organizer and activist Linda Sarsour ignored a question on Friday about whether she believes Karen Monahan, Democratic National Committee deputy chair Keith Ellison's ex-girlfriend who accused the Minnesota Democrat of physically and emotionally abusing her.

Monahan accused Ellison in August of hurling profane insults at her and dragging her out of bed in 2016, but Ellison has repeatedly denied the charges. Ellison was denying the charges as recent as two weeks ago at a PBS Almanac debate, saying the charges were simply not true. Ellison, who is running for Minnesota attorney general, was asked whether there would be other allegations.

"Look, in this political environment, I don’t know what somebody might cook up," Ellison replied. "But I could tell you that there is absolutely nobody that I am aware of who has any sort of—who is threatening or suggesting or who has ever made a prior accusation about me."

As Sarsour was walking down a hallway Friday, someone asked her whether "Keith Ellison's accuser deserves to be believed." She looked at the camera and acknowledged the individual, but kept walking to a group of activists huddled together, including Women's March co-president Tamika Mallory.

Sarsour and Mallory, both anti-Israel activists and sympathizers of Nation of Islam leader Luis Farrakhan, have been mobilizing activists in Washington, D.C. this week to show their support for Christine Blasey Ford, one of the women who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations, which have not been corroborated, but Sarsour and others have defended Ford, saying they believe her.

Sarsour shared pictures of protests against the Supreme Court nominee in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, tweeting them out with the hashtag #CancelKavanaugh.

https://twitter.com/lsarsour/status/1047953388766416896

It is unclear why Sarsour did not answer the question, but her Twitter account indicates her vocal support of Ellison and she signed a petition last year to have him appointed to fill former Sen. Al Franken's (D., Minn.) senate seat, which was unsuccessful, after he resigned in the wake of multiple sexual misconduct allegations. Sarsour, who is a Palestinian-American, also called Ellison a "great public servant and a Muslim." Ellison has similarly defended Sarsour from criticism, and he has attended rallies and events with her.

Like Ellison, Sarsour has also come under fire for her ties to Farrakhan, including a 2015 speech at a Nation Of Islam event, where she was critical of Israel. Ellison tried to distance himself from Farrakhan earlier this year following Farrakhan's annual Saviours' Day address, an event where the Nation of Islam leader attacked "that Satanic Jew," called Jews "the mother and father of apartheid," and proclaimed that "when you want something in this world, the Jew holds the door."

Ellison said his relationship with Farrakhan ended in 2006, but the Washington Post gave him Four Pinocchios for the claim.