Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) Image by U.S. House of Representatives

By Aiden Pink March 7, 2018

The dovish pro-Israel lobby J Street is endorsing Rep. Danny Davis for reelection, despite his repeated recent praise of the anti-Semitic preacher Louis Farrakhan.

Davis, a Democrat who has represented his Chicago-area district since 1997, said in an interview with the Daily Caller last month that he thought Farrakhan was an “outstanding human being.” He doubled down on his support for Farrakhan in another interview with the Daily Caller last week, saying that he had “no problems” with Farrakhan.

“The world is so much bigger than Farrakhan and the Jewish question and his position on that and so forth,” Davis added in the second interview. “For those heavy into it, that’s their thing, but it ain’t my thing.”

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J Street’s affiliated political action committee, JStreetPAC, lists Davis among more than 130 endorsed candidates for House and Senate races as of Tuesday night. Its website features a link where donations can be directed to his campaign.

Davis was also endorsed by JStreetPac in 2012, 2014 and 2016. Representatives from J Street did not return multiple requests for comment.

“We are deeply disappointed with Congressman Davis’ statements about Farrakhan, an avowed anti-Semite who leads a group that traffics in hate not just towards Jews but also the LGBTQ community,” the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement on Sunday. “It is unfortunate that the congressman apparently can’t muster up the courage to denounce Farrakhan’s blatant anti-Semitism and instead chose to praise him instead.”

Davis released a statement on Monday saying he was not anti-Semitic and condemning anti-Semitism and other forms of racism, but did not mention Farrakhan. Davis did not respond to a request to comment via a spokesperson.

Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink

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