Representative Sanford D. Bishop Jr. (D-GA) once referred to Nation of Islam (NOI) leader Louis Farrakhan as “impressive” in a 2005 interview.
The interview, which took place as part of the Explorations of Black Leadership series of interviews with various Black leaders, featured Bishop telling the late Julian Bond, a former National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chairman, that in 1968 he attended sessions of the African People’s Congress. During one of those sessions he became “acquainted with a man known as Minister Louis Farrakhan who was so impressive that night that people stopped in mid-stride … I was just so taken by his message and his manner that I rushed out to the mosque the next day to hear him.” Bishop also said, according to a transcript, that Farrakhan was “so impressive that night.” The Anti-Defamation League has called Farrakhan “the most popular antisemite in America,” noting that Farrakhan has referred to Jews as being Satanic and being responsible for the slave trade.
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