Some folks may have forgotten how close Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) came to heading the Democratic National Committee (DNC) last year. Barack Obama’s former labor secretary, Tom Perez, ultimately took the helm, but Ellison came in a close second (the final vote was 235-200). Not all was lost for the runner-up, however: Ellison was still chosen — no doubt because they share similar ideals — by Perez to serve as deputy chairman, giving him enormous influence in the Democrat Party. This is concerning by virtue of the fact that the Minnesota lawmaker has both a radical ideology and highly unnerving connections.

Those connections include Iranian President Hassan Rouhani — whose nation is considered a state sponsor of terror — and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. This week it was reported that in September 2013, Ellison, also a Muslim, met with Rouhani and Farrakhan privately over dinner just outside the UN headquarters. He has had additional rendezvouses with Farrakhan, the most recent reportedly being 2015, but their affiliation dates back to at least the mid-1990s.

Ellison knew his relationship with Farrakhan was a problem, which explains his penning a Washington Post op-ed in December 2016 in which he said, “I glossed over the hurtful and divisive language he [Farrakhan] directed at other communities” and “neglected to scrutinize the words of those such as Khalid Muhammad and Farrakhan who mixed a message of African American empowerment with scapegoating of other communities.” Ellison’s op-ed was not received well by Farrakhan, who critiqued it as “deceitful.” And why shouldn’t he have? There is ample evidence that there was far more to their relationship than Ellison cares to admit.

The Nation of Islam is a hateful, anti-Semitic cult that high-profile Democrats yearn to associate with, just not publicly. In 2005, Barack Obama was depicted in a photograph meeting with Louis Farrakhan. But as we noted, the media obligingly overlooked some of Obama’s other sordid connections to guys like Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers. The media would have treated his photo of Farrakhan the same way. Ellison’s situation is no different. The consequence is that the Democrat Party is being molded by a man who wants to destroy the West as we know it.

**Correction: Ellison is, of course, from Minnesota, not Michigan. We apologize to our Michigan readers for the unfair characterization!