ADL Calls On Obama To Denounce Farrakhan Again After Quashed Photo Emerges

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Sign up for Forwarding the News, our essential morning briefing with trusted, nonpartisan news and analysis, curated by Senior Writer Benyamin Cohen.
Anti-Defamation League chief Jonathan Greenblatt called on former president Barack Obama to again denounce Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, following the release of a photo taken of the two of them together over a decade ago.
Obama denounced Farrakhan in 2008, when the anti-Semitic leader endorsed Obama’s presidential run.
“Over his career, @barackobama has denounced the bigotry of Farrakhan,” Greenblatt wrote in a Twitter post. “Time to do so again.”
In Israel catching up on news about 2005 photo of Obama & Farrakhan. Over his career, @barackobama has denounced the bigotry of Farrakhan. Time to do so again. Leaders always should make sure that there’s no doubt: America is no place for those who advocate #antisemitism or hate
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) January 29, 2018
Obama has not publicly commented about the photo, which was taken at a Congressional Black Caucus meeting in 2005, when he was a U.S. senator. The photographer claims that he was asked to suppress the photo by a Black Caucus staff member, and gave the original to a member of Farrakhan’s staff.
Farrakhan has been denounced by Jewish leaders repeatedly over the decades for anti-Semitism.
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.