Women’s March leader defends attending event where speaker made anti-semitic remarks

Women’s March leader Tamika Mallory defended attending a Nation of Islam event in Chicago last month, where the group’s leader Louis Farrakhan made anti-semitic remarks.

“I didn’t expect my presence at Saviour’s Day to lead anyone to question my beliefs, especially considering that I have been going to this event regularly for over 30 years,” Mallory wrote in an op-ed for Newsone. 

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“Where my people are is where I must also be. I go into difficult spaces. I attend meetings with police and legislators — the very folks so much of my protest has been directed towards,” she said, adding that it is impossible for her to agree with “every statement or share every viewpoint of the many people who I have worked with or will work with in the future.”

“I do not wish to be held responsible for the words of others when my own history shows that I stand in opposition to them, I also do not think it is fair to question anyone who works with me, who supports my work and who is a member of this movement because of the ways that I may have fallen short here or in any other instance,” she said.

Mallory has faced a backlash in recent days for attending the speech, in which Farrakhan referred to “powerful Jews” as his enemy, and said, “the Jews were responsible for all of this filth and degenerate behavior that Hollywood is putting out turning men into women and women into men.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper has been one of the most vocal voices to condemn the speech, and highlight Mallory’s ties to Farrakhan. 

On Sunday, Rev. Farrakhan gave his Saviours’ Day 2018 Address, attended by thousands including one of the co-founders of the Women’s March.https://t.co/WE5ys7It8R

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 28, 2018 

Several lawmakers are also facing backlash for their reported connections to Farrakhan. 

The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) on Tuesday accused Reps. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Andre Carson (D-Ind.) Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Al Green (D-Texas) of having ties to Farrakhan, and called for their resignations. 

Davis acknowledged his relationship with Farrakhan and said, “the world is so much bigger than Farrakhan and the Jewish question.”

“I know Farrakhan, been knowing him for years and years and years and years and years, and every once in a while some writer or somebody will I guess try to think of something to say about Farrakhan, but nah, my world is so much bigger than any of that. I don’t have time for that. I deal with it, you know, when it comes but nah, that’s not a real part of my focus,” Davis told The Daily Caller.

Meeks condemned Farrakhan’s remarks in a tweet, calling them “upsetting & unacceptable.”

Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic messages are upsetting & unacceptable. I always condemn hate speech of any kind. Also upsetting that right-wing blogs suggest otherwise & try making this a black vs. Jewish community issue. Still waiting for those blogs to condemn Trump’s racist remarks.

— Gregory Meeks (@RepGregoryMeeks) March 8, 2018 

Hate is wrong and dangerous wherever it comes from. African-Americans, Jews, and far too many other groups have suffered greatly because of racism and hate in America — past and present. I will always fight to rid our nation and the world of hateful vitriol. We all should!

— Gregory Meeks (@RepGregoryMeeks) March 8, 2018

The Hill has reached out to the other lawmakers mentioned in the RJC statement for comment. 

Updated Thursday at 12:57 p.m.