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FIRST ON FOX: The NAACP leader who introduced President Biden in Detroit on Sunday night was previously slammed by the Anti-Defamation League for inviting notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan to speak at his church where the controversial minister lashed out at Jewish people and referred to them as “satanic.”
Rev. Wendell Anthony, President of the Detroit Branch of the NAACP, stood on stage with Biden in Detroit on Sunday night at the NAACP Detroit Branch’s 69th annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner, where the president gave a speech repeating his talking point about bringing people together and slammed former President Trump for being too divisive.
Anthony, who presented Biden with a lifetime achievement award on Sunday night, has a long history of associations with Farrakhan, who leads the Nation of Islam group, including being slammed by the Anti-Defamation League in 2013 for inviting the minister to speak at his church where he espoused antisemitic rhetoric.
Farrakhan spoke at Anthony’s Detroit-based church, Fellowship Chapel, at least three times in 2005, 2013, and 2015. The Michigan Chronicle reported in 1994 that Anthony was a guest speaker at the Nation of Islam’s 64th annual “Saviour’s Day.”
(Left to right): President Biden, Rev. Wendell Anthony, and Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan (Fox News )
“The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today expressed deep disappointment with the members of Detroit City Council and local clergy who met with and embraced the anti-Semitic and racist leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, during his visit to the city last week,” the May 2013 press release stated.
“During his visit to Detroit, Minister Farrakhan was invited by Rev. Wendell Anthony, President of the Detroit Branch of the NAACP, to address the Fellowship Chapel on May 17. His speech, which was attended by U.S. Rep. John Conyers and Detroit City Councilmember JoAnn Watson, among other prominent city leaders, invoked hateful anti-Semitic canards and open racism. Thus far, none of the leaders present for his remarks have publicly condemned Minister Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic rhetoric, and several have praised him.”
The ADL statement alleges that during the speech, Farrakhan “spewed hateful anti-Semitic invective, referring to ‘Satanic Jews’ and the ‘Synagogue of Satan’ supposedly controlling major institutions.”
“He expressed his love for President Barack Obama, but added that the president ‘surrounded himself with Satan…members of the Jewish community,’” the ADL said.
LEFT-WING ACTIVIST WHO HIRED ONE OF FARRAKHAN’S ‘TOP SOLDIERS’ HAS VISITED BIDEN WHITE HOUSE 7 TIMES
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 16: Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan delivers a speech and talks about U.S. President Donald Trump, at the Watergate Hotel, on November 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Congressman John Conyers, Jr., a Democrat who passed away in 2019, ultimately apologized for attending Farrakhan’s speech saying that the minister made “unacceptable racist, anti-Semitic, and homophobic statements” which “I condemn in the strongest possible terms.”
Fox News Digital could not confirm what Rev. Anthony said in his introduction of Farrakhan when he spoke at his church, but a tweet from “Brother Abdul Qiyam Muhammad,” whose Linkedin says he is a “staff writer” for the Nation of Islam’s Final Call newspaper, said Rev. Anthony’s introduction was “phenomenal” and said he was on the “witness stand” for Farrakhan.
Another disciple of Farrakhan tweeted out a quote attributed to Anthony from the 2013 appearance at Fellowship Chapel, saying, “Don’t get mad with Farrakhan for striking a match, get upset with yourself for not keeping the fire going.”
“The enemy that owns [reality TV] is the same people that own Hollywood, the same people that control your press, the same people that control your media, the same people who are the publishers, the same people who are the distributors, the same Synagogue of Satan, and they put you before the world in this disgraceful matter,” Farrakhan said in May 2013 at Fellowship Chapel, according to the ADL.
“What are you feeding filth to your people, you’re popular in filth, but they pay well. See, because you’re Satan’s man. He gives you money, that’s what you want. They print it all day long now next to the Holocaust place in Washington…These are not good people, these are Satanic minds,” he continued. “Whatever God says thou shalt not do, they make sure that they tell you it’s all right and then publicize it.”
President Joe Biden holds a press conference. (Fox News )
In addition to the visits to Anthony’s church, Farrakhan was also a guest speaker at a “Religious leaders’ breakfast” in 2004 for a “Freedom Weekend” hosted by Freedom Institute for Economic, Social Justice and People Empowerment, a think tank founded by Anthony. The think tank’s website lists Farrakhan along with other activists as “the best and brightest in their respective fields.”
In 1995, Anthony was quoted as praising Farrakhan as “the only man with the vision to envision” the Million Man March, saying, “He is the only leader speaking to the moral issues of decay in our community, and that’s why people are responding to his call.”
Anthony wasn’t the only person with ties to Farrakhan at the dinner. A Facebook social media post shows that Troy Muhammad, who also goes by Troy X and is a “State Representative for Minister Louis Farrakhan and as Minister of Muhammad Mosque #1, was in attendance. The long Facebook post thanked Anthony and Kamilia Landrum, whose Facebook bio says she is the executive director of the NAACP’s Detroit branch, for “their efforts” in organizing the dinner. One of the pictures he included was a placard that said, “Michigan Representative of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.”
Troy X also noted he walked out of the building when Biden was being introduced and said he was just attending to support the NAACP.
The White House has previously faced criticism for its ties to Farrakhan’s network including a left-wing activist who hired one of Farrakhan’s ‘top soldiers’ visiting the White House 7 times.
Last fall, President Biden sat down for a radio interview with a show that has actively promoted Farrakhan’s teachings.
(Left to right:) Lennox Yearwood, President Biden, and Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan (Fox News)
The White House previously told Fox News Digital, “For decades, President Biden has unequivocally condemned Louis Farrakhan and the repugnant Antisemitic hate he represents.”
Andrew Bates, who was recently promoted to White House Senior Deputy Press Secretary and Deputy Assistant to the President, also told Fox News Digital previously that a Washington, D.C., official who repeatedly praised Farrakhan wouldn’t be invited back to the White House. That claim turned out to be false after visitor logs showed she visited the White House at least two more times.
“Inaddition to asking them to pray like hell for me — (laughter) — I asked their advice on a bunch of things,” the White House transcript of a Biden campaign stop quotes Biden as saying about the reverends he has met with in Detroit.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, NAACP, and Anthony’s Fellowship Chapel for a comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
Cameron Cawthorne is a politics editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Cameron.Cawthorne@Fox.com and on Twitter: @cam_cawthorne
