Hakeem Jeffries under fire for defending antisemitic uncle

Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is under fire following the resurfacing of a decades-old college opinion article that saw him defend his antisemitic uncle.

Jeffries, who took over the mantle of Democratic leadership after control of the House flipped to Republicans in last year’s midterm elections, told The Wall Street Journal in 2013 that he only had “vague” memories of the controversy surrounding his uncle Leonard Jeffries, a college professor in Black Studies who in the early 1990s denounced “rich Jews” as puppet masters of the slave trade and claimed that Jews were orchestrating a “conspiracy” against Black Americans.

“I have a vague recollection of it,” Jeffries said during the Wall Street Journal interview. “There was no internet during that era and I can’t even recall a daily newspaper in the Binghamton, N.Y., area but it wasn’t covering the things that the New York Post and Daily News were at the time.”

However, an editorial penned by the future Democratic leader in 1992, when he was an undergraduate student at Binghamton University, suggests he was fully aware of the controversy while it was happening. The article, surfaced by CNN on Wednesday, features Jeffries offering a defense of his uncle and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, while largely focusing on denouncing Black conservatives as “house negroes” and lamenting their acceptance by the “white media.”

“Dr. Leonard Jeffries and Minister Louis Farrakhan have come under intense fire,” Jeffries wrote at the time. “Where do you think their interests lie? Dr. Jeffries has challenged the existing white supremist educational system and long standing distortion of history. His reward has been a media lynching complete with character assassinations and inflammatory erroneous accusations.”

Leonard Jeffries continued to make remarks that were denounced as antisemitic by groups like the Anti-Defamation League for many years after his nephew defended him, although he eventually lost his job at City University of New York following a series of legal battles. Other remarks by Leonard Jeffries reportedly include references to Jews as “dogs” and “skunks” hoping to “stink you all up.”

Republicans pounced on Hakeem Jeffries following the publication of CNN’s report, accusing the Democrat of being antisemitic himself while lashing out at him for previously brushing aside his uncle’s controversy and for denouncing Black conservatives.

“Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and now Hakeem Jeffries,” the National Republican Congressional Committee tweeted. “Why are House Democrats so interested in giving a platform to anti-Semitic voices?”

“For years, House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries has claimed he has only a “vague recollection” of his uncle’s antisemitism. But CNN’s @KFILE has the receipts — and Jeffries is on record DEFENDING both his uncle AND Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan,” tweeted the RNC Research account.

Republican Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida called for Jeffries to “apologize for what he wrote in that article” and take part in a “debate about Black conservatism versus Black liberalism” during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday.

Jeffries was also defended by some, with Democratic Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who is Jewish, tweeting, “few Americans are more committed defenders of the Jewish community, and all communities subject to hate, than Hakeem Jeffries.”

In a statement emailed to Newsweek, Jeffries spokesperson Christie Stephenson said that “Leader Jeffries has consistently been clear that he does not share the controversial views espoused by his uncle over thirty years ago.”

“Leader Jeffries has been in public service for more than 16 years as a state legislator and Member of Congress,” Stephenson continued. “His track record of bringing communities together and standing up for everyone speaks for itself.”