White House visitor logs contradict Biden spokesman's vow to ban DC official who praised notorious antisemite
FIRST ON FOX: A Washington, D.C., official has visited the White House twice since a spokesperson for President Biden said she wouldn't be invited back after she praised noted antisemite Louis Farrakhan, Fox News Digital has learned.
Cora Masters Barry, who was appointed CEO of the city's Recreation Wish List Committee, delivered remarks in mid-2022 praising Farrakhan as a "friend" and "member of the family," adding, "I love you more than words will ever say."
Shortly after her comments, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates condemned Farrakhan and said Barry would not ever be invited back to the White House.
"The president has unequivocally condemned Louis Farrakhan and the hate he represents for decades and co-sponsored bipartisan legislation doing so," Bates told Fox News Digital. "He also denounces any praise of Louis Farrakhan or his repugnant, antisemitic values, including in this case."
However, according to a Fox News Digital review of visitor logs, Barry returned to the White House in June 2023 and again in December 2023.
The first visit, on June 13, 2023, appears to have been for a Juneteenth concert on the White House South Lawn, where Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both delivered remarks. The purpose of her second visit, on Dec. 14, 2023, remains unclear, though it appears she attended an evening reception alongside hundreds of other invitees.
The White House and Barry didn't respond to requests for comment.
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Washington, D.C.Mayor Muriel Bowser appointed Barry to her current position, saying in 2021 that she was "grateful for women" like Barry. Bowser notably stood by Barry after City Council Chairman Phil Mendelson moved to block her from serving on the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
Overall, Barry, who donated $500 each to Biden's presidential campaign and the Biden Victory Fund, according to federal filings, has visited the White House at least six times since Biden took office.
Barry previously received criticism for her comments attacking white women and compared supporters of former President Trump to the Ku Klux Klan.
Her praise for Farrakhan, who leads the Nation of Islam religious group, was uttered during a private event in October 2022 honoring her late husband, former Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry.
Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam have been heavily criticized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which was founded to stop the defamation of Jewish people, and by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The ADL has called Farrakhan "one of the most prominent antisemites," and SPLC has classified the Nation of Islam as a hate group.
The White House has repeatedly reaffirmed that the president has disavowed Farrakhan, though the most recent public example appears to be a Senate floor speech Biden delivered four decades ago, in 1984.
The Nation of Islam didn't respond to a request for comment.