President Biden sat down for an interview this past week with a radio host who has promoted the words of infamous antisemite Louis Farrakhan and whose show wished him “Happy Birthday” on social media earlier this year.
“Happy Birthday to the honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, who turned 90 years old today!” Radio host Rickey Smiley’s show posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, in May.
White House deputy communications director Jennifer Molina announced on X last Tuesday that Biden recently taped three interviews, including one with Smiley, that “will reach 14 million Americans nationwide, across 140 markets.”
Smiley’s Twitter accounts contain several posts promoting Farrakhan with links going back to news articles about his speeches on the radio show’s website.
L- Minister Farrakhan R – President Biden (Getty Images)
Farrakhan has called Jewish people “termites”, praised Hitler, and has become one of the most controversial religious figures in the United States due to his derogatory comments about Israel.
Since taking leadership of the Nation of Islam in the late 1970s, Farrakhan has been accused of antisemitism and homophobia for his comments and sermons.
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Radio host Rickey Smiley (Getty Images)
Farrakhan has blamed Jews for, among other things, the slave trade, Jim Crow and black oppression in general.
During a speech in Chicago in 1996, Farrakhan denounced Jews as “the synagogue of Satan.”
The Anti-Defamation League labeled Farrakhan the “most popular antisemite in America” in 2020. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
“You are wicked deceivers of the American people,” he said at the time. “You have sucked their blood. You are not real Jews, those of that are not real Jews. You are the synagogue of Satan, and you have wrapped your tentacles around the U.S. government, and you are deceiving and sending the nation to hell.”
Biden has been criticized in the past for associating with Farrakhan supporters including Rev. Al Sharpton and Cora Masters Barry, an appointed official serving under D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who have visited the Biden White House multiple times.
WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 28: Cora Masters Barry (3rd L), wife of the late D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, speaks as The Rev. Mark Thompson (L), host of podcast Make It Plain and emcee, looks on during a Make Good Trouble Rally at the Lincoln Memorial August 28, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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During an event in September 2022, Barry lavished praise on Farrakhan multiple times, calling him a “friend” and “member of the family” while also telling him “I love you more than words will ever say.”
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital in October 2022 that President Biden “denounces any praise” of Farrakhan or his rhetoric, including the praise from Barry, who was invited back to the White House earlier this summer.
A representative for Smiley declined to comment.
Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz, Houston Keene, and Cameron Cawthorne contributed to this report.