Louis Farrakhan praised Barack Obama.
“We are witnessing the phenomenal rise of a man of color in a country that has persecuted us because of our color,” the leader of the Nation of Islam, who many accuse of being anti-Semitic, said Monday at a rally in Chicago.
A campaign spokesperson for Obama responded by reiterating the Democratic presidential hopeful’s objections to Farrakhan’s past statements and noting that Obama had not solicited his support.
Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, had distanced himself from Farrakhan following revelations that he had been honored by an organization affiliated with Obama’s church.
“This young man is the hope of the entire world that America will change and be made better,” Farrakhan said at the rally.
