'Moderate' Dem giving rebuttal to Trump's joint address promoted staffer who boosted Farrakhan
Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who will deliver the rebuttal to Trump, employed a deputy political director during her campaign last year who posted on Facebook in 2017 about her "full week" of "supporting the Nation of Islam and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan" at the Nation of Islam's "Saviours' Day Convention."
The staffer, Dr. Terra DeFoe, posted a photo of herself standing next to Farrakhan and wrote, "Great time with my Brothers at Savior's Day Convention."
Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, has been vocal about what he thinks of Jews, comparing them to termites and saying they are "Satanic." He has also praised Adolf Hitler as a "great man" and has become one of the most controversial religious figures in the United States due to his derogatory comments about Israel.
In 2019, two years after DeFoe attended the Nation of Islam convention, she invited Troy Muhammad onto her talk show. Muhammad, who serves as a "State Representative for Minister Louis Farrakhan and Minister of Muhammad Mosque No. 1" and was pictured in DeFoe's 2017 Facebook post, was described by DeFoe in the introduction as a "valued community leader in Detroit." The interview, which lasted nine minutes, according to an archived copy, did not include any questions about Farrakhan's controversial antisemitic comments.
After the conclusion of Slotkin's successful Senate campaign, DeFoe was given the position of regional director starting in January 2025, according to Legistorm.
Federal Election Commission records show that DeFoe was paid tens of thousands of dollars from the Slotkin campaign between June 2024 and December 2024, weeks before she was promoted to the regional director position.
After Fox News Digital exclusively reported on DeFoe's ties to Farrakhan last May, multiple Jewish activists called for Slotkin's staffer to be fired.
"StopAntisemitism is dismayed to learn that Representative Elissa Slotkin still employs a Farrakhan supporter who has openly praised one of America's most notorious antisemites. Farrakhan uses antisemitic slurs, and pushes Jew-hating rhetoric, yet Rep. Slotkin has refused to fire this staffer, despite public outcry," Liora Rez, StopAntisemitism's executive director, told Fox News Digital on Monday.
"How can a Representative who enables this kind of extremism be considered a moderate? Rep. Slotkin's silence needs to be addressed," she continued. "If she won't take a stand against antisemitism within her own team, why should her constituents trust her to stand up for American values at all?"
Tudor Dixon, who ran for governor of Michigan as a Republican in 2022, told Fox News Digital in a statement, "No one will be fooled by Elissa Slotkin's sudden 'moderate' rebrand."
"There's nothing moderate about defending open borders, higher taxes, EV mandates, and coddling criminals. Elissa Slotkin is a far-left progressive who continues to surround herself with activists that are completely disconnected from the average American."
Fox News Digital reached out to Slotkin's office and DeFoe multiple times but did not receive a response.
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