Rep. Gregory Meeks went after The Daily Caller in an interview on CNN Wednesday after being asked about a meeting he had with anti-Semitic, anti-white, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
WATCH:
CNN’s John Berman asked Meeks, “Congressman, I want to give you a chance to clarify some reports that you have been connected to over the last several weeks, that in 2013 you met with the leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan here in New York City along with the leader of Iran. Did you, in fact, attend a meeting with Farrakhan?” (RELATED: REVEALED: Three Democrats Attended Private Dinner With Iran’s President And Louis Farrakhan)
Meeks responded by attacking The Daily Caller, saying, “Let me just say again–this is The Daily Caller, another fringe, right-wing tabloid I guess, who keeps putting this out there. Number one, it was not a meeting–they tried to describe it as it was a private meeting with Louis Farrakhan. We had no clue. This was at a time when I was trying to decide whether or not we should go along with the sanctions against Iran as well as fixing the…Iran nuclear deal. And, it was a UN, a meeting with a number of heads of states. The president of Iran, Mr. Rouhani was there, along with a number of Islamic religious leaders.”
He continued, “The conversation was about how do we stop terrorism? And I wanted to get a feel, also whether or not–and Farrakhan happened to be there. It wasn’t a meeting with Farrakhan. It was a meeting with Islamic leaders, American leaders from around the United States of America. That’s what the meeting was.”
Berman then asked, “And, you know that people have noted Louis Farrakhan recently has said things that are extremely anti-Semitic.” (RELATED: Seven Louis Farrakhan Quotes On Jews, Gays And White People)
“And, you know, he’s got a long history of saying such things. Do you, you know, unambiguously denounce those statements?”
“Well, yes,” Meeks responded. “As you know, I put out a statement that Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic remarks, you know, are remarks that are upsetting and unacceptable to me. I made that statement. And I also make the statement that I hope that The Daily Caller and others–because they were silent when those in Charlottesville made statements about blacks and Jews, and they did not come out strong and talk about denouncement of that, or President Trump when he said there was good people on both sides.” (RELATED: At Least Three Dead In Charlottesville As Protests Continue)
“So here again is The Daily Caller, and I hope they’re not trying to put a divide between the African-American community and the Jewish community, because that’s not–if you look at our voting records, we work very closely together and will continue to do that.” (RELATED: I’m A Jew. I Had No Idea I’d Be Spending Christmas Among Neo-Nazis)