Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Cory Booker said that he would be willing to meet with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, despite his long history of making anti-Semitic comments, the Washington Examiner reported on Sunday.
“I don’t feel like I need to do that, but I’m not one of these people who says I wouldn’t sit down with anybody to hear what they have to say,” Booker said at a campaign event when asked if he would be willing to meet with Farrakhan.
“I am very familiar with Minister Farrakhan and his beliefs and values,” Booker said, noting that Nation of Islam literature is popular in Newark, where he used to serve as mayor.
The Anti-Defamation League has described Farakhan as “virtually synonymous with anti-Semitism" due to his long string of bigoted comments, including calling Jews “satanic,” praising Hitler as a “great man” and espousing numerous anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Booker’s comments come after he and other Democrats criticized former Vice President Joe Biden for touting his record earlier this week of working with segregationist Democrats in the 1970s, despite his diagreement with their beliefs, CDN pointed out.