REVEALED: Georgia Democratic Senate candidate praised anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam

"Its voice has been important for the development of Black theology," Warnock said. "It was the Black Muslims who challenged Black preachers and said, 'you’re promulgating … the White man’s religion. That’s a slave religion. You’re telling people to focus on heaven, meanwhile, they’re catching hell.'"

Warnock suggested that Nation of Islam was important to ensure that black preachers remain "honest."

Meanwhile, Nation of Islam has been widely criticized for its promotion of hate. Their leader, Louis Farrakhan, has made dozens of statements attacking Jews in the past, including suggesting that "it's the wicked Jews" who are "promoting lesbianism [and] homosexuality." Farrakhan has described Hitler as "a very great man," accused German Jews of financing the Holocaust, compared Jewish people to Satan, and argued that Jews were behind the transatlantic slave trade.

Farrakhan has also suggested that the government is trying to turn African-Americans into homosexuals. The Southern Poverty Law Centre describes Nation of Islam as a "hate group."

Warnock is not the only prominent Democratic Party politician who has expressed sympathy for Nation of Islam. Rashida Tlaib, a Democratic congresswoman from Michigan who has faced widespread accusations of antisemitism, wrote for Nation of Islam's newsletter in 2006. Many progressive organizers of the women's march protest which took place after President Donald Trump's inauguration in January 2017 were heavily criticized for maintaining ties with Farrakhan as well.

The Warnock campaign has not yet commented on the revelation.