Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) leadership demanded answers on Friday from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) for lying and defending his antisemitic uncle, Leonard Jeffries, and Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan.
The RJC leadership — National Chairman, former Sen. Norm Coleman, and CEO Matt Brooks — stated that “Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries owes the Jewish community an explanation as to why he lied and attempted to cover up his defense of these revolting antisemites.”
The two cited a recent CNN story detailing the minority leader’s use of race politics during his time in college, his defense of his uncle and Farrakhan in his college newspaper, and that he even invited his uncle to speak on campus.
House Minority Leader @RepJeffries owes the Jewish community an explanation as to why he lied and attempted to cover up his defense of his antisemite uncle and notorious bigot Louis Farrakhan.
Full release: pic.twitter.com/Dct6jxuw3u
— RJC (@RJC) April 14, 2023
The CNN story revealed that Jeffries, who has said he has a “vague recollection” of the controversy surrounding his antisemitic uncle, actually defended Leonard Jeffries, a black studies professor who lost his job after making antisemitic remarks, and Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan, in his college newspaper.
In February 1992, he explained that the two were unfairly targeted by “white media” for challenging “the longstanding distortion of history”:
Do you think that a ruling elite would promote individuals who would seek to dismantle their vice like grip on power? Of course not. … Dr. Leonard Jeffries and Minister Louis Farrakhan have come under intense fire. Where do you think their interests lie? Dr. Jeffries has challenged the existing white supremist educational system and the long standing distortion of history. His reward has been a media lynching complete with character assassinations and inflammatory erroneous accusations.
It was also reported that Jeffries, during his time at Binghamton University and as a member of the executive board for the Black Student Union, had invited his uncle to speak on campus after he made inflammatory comments in the early 1990s.
Coleman and Brooks also noted in their statement that Leonard Jeffries’s “disgusting remarks” included:
[C]omparing Jews to “dogs” and “skunks”, saying that “rich Jews” financed the slave trade, and saying that Jewish Hollywood executives “planned and plotted and programmed” a conspiracy to denigrate Black Americans in films. At the time, these statements were widely condemned, including by the ADL, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, and former New York City Mayor David Dinkins.
“Unfortunately, this is yet another disturbing data point of the Democratic Party embracing and promoting antisemites, from Leonard Jeffries and Louis Farrakhan to Ilhan Omar,” the two added.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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