Ellison to Jake Tapper: Bringing Up Farrakhan Is ‘Trying to Put Me on the Spot, It’s Not Fair

Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.), the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, argued with CNN’s Jake Tapper Tuesday about his prior connection to Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan.

Ellison termed President Donald Trump a bigot in response to CNN anchor Jake Tapper’s question about whether travel bans targeting Muslim majority countries during the Obama administration were problematic. Ellison said the Supreme Court should not have ignored bigoted intent in ruling against Trump’s travel ban, leading Tapper to ask about Ellison’s own connection with Farrakhan, a notorious bigot.

“You’ve been decrying president Trump’s bigotry; obviously, you used to follow somebody who continually expressed sexist, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-Semitic bigotry, Louis Farrakhan—”

“I would disagree with that,” Ellison interjected. He went on to explain that he has denounced Farrakhan but he was not associated with him, contradicting the Washington Post’s fact check on the matter.

Ellison continued to talk over Tapper and prevent him from asking his question, saying he had no right to bring up Farrakhan and set up a “false equivalency” with Trump.

Going back to the false equivalency, I don’t have any support for what the individual you just mentioned stands for, nor do I agree with Trump’s bigotry either,” Ellison said. “Any time somebody tries to say that something is unfair and bigoted, if you are going to say, ‘Well, one time you sort of said something or somebody said you said something, and then no one can complain about bigotry—”

“You were a follower of Farrakhan, sir,” Tapper said.  more here