Saying God picked Trump Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan portrays him as both truth
Louis Farrakhan
Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan  delivers a speech and talks about President Trump at the Watergate Hotel in Washington. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Controversial firebrand Minister Louis Farrakhan Thursday invited journalists to a televised  135-minute sermon to Donald Trump to clean up Americaâs injustices  seeming to side with Trump as a fellow tell-it-straight ally who calls out everyone from Pope Francis to the media.
âGod has him here!â  the Nation of Islam leader  said  referring to Trump during the morning event at the Watergate Hotel ballroom  which was filled to capacity with more than 500 people  mostly Nation members and other  Farrakhan  supporters. âWhat did you say   Farrakhan ? Do you think God is not interested in who is president of the United States of America?! Especially when itâs the time of evil?â
The talk was billed as a news conference because reporters were invited  but no public questions were taken after the address. And it was called a message to Trump. It was laid out as a detailed history of American wrongs  from slavery to war to hypocrisy  delivered to an unexpected and unlikely president whom  Farrakhan  painted as perhaps best able to address such problems.
The fiery talk focused on injustices against African Americans and Muslims and seemed to single out a longtime favorite target of the religious leader: Jews. Running through his story of America  he said Jews were the ones who stopped African Americansâ initial progress. About 40 minutes into the talk  an assistant brought out a large poster of a Jewish star and an advertisement for a decades-old Nation of Islam-published book subtitled âHow Jews Gained Control of the Black American Economy.â The poster stood beside  Farrakhan  for the rest of the talk.
 Farrakhan âs comments about Jews  gays and lesbians and white people prompted the Southern Poverty Law Center  which tracks hate and extremist groups  to label the Nation of Islam a hate group. The Nation was formed in Detroit in the 1930s. Its theology entailed  in part  black superiority over whites. But the 84-year-old Farrakhan has also been held up as a civil rights leader by his followers and supporters.
âFor black youth  this puts their struggle in perspective â for them to see they are the victims of circumstances â said Ishmael Muhammad  national assistant minister to  Farrakhan . âThey can redirect their anger and turn it into something more constructive.â
But nothing and no one were outside  Farrakhan âs critique  with targets from Presidents Kennedy  Clinton  Nixon and both Bushes to his fellow African Americans and Muslims as well.
Trump was the stated audience for  Farrakhan âs plea  but  he  was both hero and villain in the story.  He  portrayed Trump as a warmonger who âtore up the White Houseâ to eliminate any trace of the countryâs first black president. âYou hate our shadow â  Farrakhan  said.
But time and again  Farrakhan  seemed to offer a fig leaf to Trump  using a Trump-like worldview suggesting hidden enemies and conspiracies keeping the decent American down.
âWhat kind of a man is [Trump?] That he would argue with a man that every other president of the United States would go to Rome and kiss the ring! But not Donald Trump. The pope says  âHeâs wrong because heâs building walls.â But what about the pope himself   Farrakhan  asked  noting the wall around the Vatican âthat walls you off from the poor!â
After alleging the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks   Farrakhan  segued to a shared enemy. âWhen Trump talks about fake news  he knows what heâs talking about! You say youâre the Fourth Estate  Iâd say youâre in a hell of a state. You canât say what you know is true  unless it passes the muster of your bosses.â
To some   Farrakhan âs core message of fighting for black self-empowerment and equality is worth the conspiracy theories and controversy. The crowd was dotted with local African American figures  including former NAACP leader Benjamin Chavis â one of the organizers of the historic Million Man March in 1995 â prominent D.C. Pastor Willie Wilson and others  including Anthony Shahid  a Nation member and St. Louis activist close to the family of Michael Brown  who was killed by police in Ferguson  Mo.
Nation of  [TGT] delivers a speech and talks about President Trump at the Watergate Hotel in Washington. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Controversial firebrand Minister Louis Farrakhan Thursday invited journalists to a televised  135-minute sermon to Donald Trump to clean up Americaâs injustices  seeming to side with Trump as a fellow tell-it-straight ally who calls out everyone from Pope Francis to the media.
âGod has him here!â  the Nation of Islam leader  said  referring to Trump during the morning event at the Watergate Hotel ballroom  which was filled to capacity with more than 500 people  mostly Nation members and other   [TGT] . âWhat did you say    [TGT]  ? Do you think God is not interested in who is president of the United States of America?! Especially when itâs the time of evil?â
The talk was billed as a news conference because reporters were invited  but no public questions were taken after the address. And it was called a message to Trump. It was laid out as a detailed history of American wrongs  from slavery to war to hypocrisy  delivered to an unexpected and unlikely president whom  Farrakhan  painted as perhaps best able to address such problems.
The fiery talk focused on injustices against African Americans and Muslims and seemed to single out a longtime favorite target of the religious leader: Jews. Running through his story of America  he said Jews were the ones who stopped African Americansâ initial progress. About 40 minutes into the talk  an assistant brought out a large poster of a Jewish star and an advertisement for a decades-old Nation of Islam-published book subtitled âHow Jews Gained Control of the Black American Economy.â The poster stood beside  Farrakhan  for the rest of the talk.
 Farrakhan âs comments about Jews  gays and lesbians and white people prompted the Southern Poverty Law Center  which tracks hate and extremist groups  to label the Nation of Islam a hate group. The Nation was formed in Detroit in the 1930s. Its theology entailed  in part  black superiority over whites. But the 84-year-old Farrakhan has also been held up as a civil rights leader by his followers and supporters.
âFor black youth  this puts their struggle in perspective â for them to see they are the victims of circumstances â said Ishmael Muhammad  national assistant minister to  Farrakhan . âThey can redirect their anger and turn it into something more constructive.â
But nothing and no one were outside  Farrakhan âs critique  with targets from Presidents Kennedy  Clinton  Nixon and both Bushes to his fellow African Americans and Muslims as well.
Trump was the stated audience for  Farrakhan âs plea  but  he  was both hero and villain in the story.  He  portrayed Trump as a warmonger who âtore up the White Houseâ to eliminate any trace of the countryâs first black president. âYou hate our shadow â  Farrakhan  said.
But time and again  Farrakhan  seemed to offer a fig leaf to Trump  using a Trump-like worldview suggesting hidden enemies and conspiracies keeping the decent American down.
âWhat kind of a man is [Trump?] That he would argue with a man that every other president of the United States would go to Rome and kiss the ring! But not Donald Trump. The pope says  âHeâs wrong because heâs building walls.â But what about the pope himself   Farrakhan  asked  noting the wall around the Vatican âthat walls you off from the poor!â
After alleging the U.S. government was behind the 9/11 attacks   Farrakhan  segued to a shared enemy. âWhen Trump talks about fake news  he knows what heâs talking about! You say youâre the Fourth Estate  Iâd say youâre in a hell of a state. You canât say what you know is true  unless it passes the muster of your bosses.â
To some   Farrakhan âs core message of fighting for black self-empowerment and equality is worth the conspiracy theories and controversy. The crowd was dotted with local African American figures  including former NAACP leader Benjamin Chavis â one of the organizers of the historic Million Man March in 1995 â prominent D.C. Pastor Willie Wilson and others  including Anthony Shahid  a Nation member and St. Louis activist close to the family of Michael Brown  who was killed by police in Ferguson  Mo.