Former Rep. Ron Paul said Thursday he would not withdraw from a speaking event at a conference hosted by a group with an anti-Semitic history in an interview with Alex Wagner on MSNBC.
"I'm going to a conservative, Catholic group that is pro-peace and wants to hear my foreign policy and my take on economy," Paul said. "If I go only—I wouldn't be on this station [MSNBC] if I had a litmus test."
The Free Beacon reported on Paul's plan to speak at the conference hosted by the Fatima Center last month:
Former congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul is scheduled to give a Sept. 11 keynote address at a conference sponsored by an anti-Semitic organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center reports.
Also slated to speak at the conference is the president of the John Birch Society, a fringe conspiracy-theorist group that was famously denounced by the late William F. Buckley. [...]
The Fatima Center’s publications have published columns criticizing the Pope for "kowtowing" to the "Synagogue of Satan," argued that Jews are attempting to undermine the Catholic Church on behalf of Satan, and claiming that "Zionist billionaires" have been "financially raping" the Russian people. The organization also promotes New World Order conspiracy theories.
In a subsequent interview with the Free Beacon, the head of the Fatima Center defended his advocacy and questioned the facts behind the Holocaust.
During his interview with Wagner, who read excerpts of claims argued by the Fatima Center, Paul said he did not know why she would bring up the "infractions of some group."
"It sounds to me like you had me on here to bash Catholics," he said.
"I was raised Catholic so that's the last thing I want to do," Wagner replied.
"Well, you ought to be more courteous to them, and give them a break," he said.