Minister Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, said that the intense level of criticism of President Obama has created an environment that could lead to assassination attempts on the nation’s first African-American president.
The 78-year-old Farrakhan said that there are a large number of Americans who have strongly negative feelings about a Black man being President of the United States. And he sharply criticized the Republican candidates for president for campaigns that were so harshly negative against Obama.
“They have called President Barack Obama a racist, an anti-Semite, a socialist, a communist, a foreigner, an alien and some have even called him a terrorist," Farrakhan said. "Obama has really got them upset. Republicans are looking for some white person. Anybody. Anybody.”
Farrakhan’s comments were made at an annual convention of the Nation of Islam in Chicago over the weekend. His hour-long speech focused largely on the presidential race, as well as America’s foreign policy and the national debt.
Toward the end of his speech, Farrakhan spent a significant amount of time comparing the political environment facing Obama’s political situation to that of Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated in 1865, after being re-elected.
In fact, Farrakhan suggested that an assassination plot against Obama might involve a “patsy,” someone who would be selected to absorb the blame for a broader conspiracy.
“I believe they want a Muslim to kill President Obama,” Farrakhan said.
During the speech, Farrakhan said that there were people in the president’s circle who are creating an atmosphere that could lead Obama to become a one-term president.
Employing the use of slides and photographs, in addressing the crowd at the United Center, Farrakhan discussed in detail the disparaging comments about the president and First Lady Michelle Obama made by Republican presidential candidates and Republican officials around the country.
"They've said over and over that he is Muslim when he's Christian. Well, President, you might as well come and join us. Then we'll get something done," Farrakhan said.
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(Photo:  Mario Tama/Getty Images)