GOP: Warnock Embraces Nation of Islam

The Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Baptist minister seeking to unseat Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., in the Jan. 5 runoff has come under fire yet again after a video surfaced in which he purportedly praises the Nation of Islam.

In the video, recorded in 2013 during a question-and-answer session after what appeared to be a speech during a conference, Warnock is asked a whether he thinks the Black church is having attendance problems like "mainstream white churches and synagogues."

The Nation of Islam, Warnock responds, is "significant," though he says its attendance numbers do not match those of Christian churches.

He then goes on to say: "Its voice has been important for the development of Black theology. It was the Black Muslims who challenged Black preachers and said, 'You're promulgating . . . the white man's religion. That's a slave religion. You're telling people to focus on heaven, meanwhile, they're catching hell.'"

The Nation of Islam "put a fire" under Black pastors and kept them "honest," Warnock said.

Steve Guest, rapid response coordinator for the Republican National Committee, called the video "more evidence Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock is an anti-Semite," in a statement to Newsmax.

The Nation of Islam has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center partly for its anti-Semitic rhetoric and beliefs.

Guest said the video is only the latest in a list of concerns against the lead pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, once home to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Guest also noted Warnock has:

• Compared Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to segregationist George Wallace

• Called Israel an "Apartheid" state, said Israel was "a land of violence and bloodshed and occupation," referred to Israeli leaders as "clever politicians," and accused them of being "racist and vicious."

• Likened Israeli Jews to "birds of prey."

• Signed a letter comparing the West Bank to apartheid South Africa.

• Praised "anti-Semite and anti-American" pastor Jeremiah Wright "and he has refused to distance himself."

• Has cozied up with a Democrat Congressman who called Jews "termites."

"And just yesterday, Warnock and Jon Ossoff received a boost from anti-Semites Linda Sarsour and Democrat Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib," Guest said. "It is not a partisan issue that Linda Sarsour is an anti-Semite. Earlier this year, one of Biden's campaign flacks said Biden 'obviously condemns [Sarsour's] views.'"

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