The Democratic National Committee appears to have pulled out from partnering with the organizers of the Women's March as the group's leadership faces accusations of anti-Semitism due to their association with Louis Farrakhan ahead of its third annual march this weekend.
Although the DNC was not listed as a partner for the Women's March as of Tuesday evening, a page cached by Google on Sunday morning showed otherwise. This year's march is scheduled for Saturday in Washington.
The Google-cached website states the page "is a snapshot of the page as it appeared at" 2:19 a.m. ET on Sunday, and features the Democratic National Committee.
"The DNC stands in solidarity with all those fighting for women's rights and holding the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers across the country accountable. Women are on the front lines of fighting back against this administration and are the core of our Democratic Party," DNC Deputy Communications Director Sabrina Singh said in a statement.
When pressed to confirm whether the DNC had been partnering with the organization for this year's march, and if it was no longer, a DNC official declined to comment further.
Leaders of the Women's March, the national group that's organizing Saturday's event, have been criticized for their association with the Nation of Islam leader, Louis Farrakhan. Farrakhan, who has led the black nationalist group since 1977, is known for hyperbolic hate speech aimed at the Jewish community, and made remarks such as "the powerful Jews are my enemy" last February.
Both Tamika Mallory and Carmen Perez, co-chairs of the Women's March, have posted photos on Instagram of themselves with Farrakhan. Linda Sarsour, another Women's March leader, spoke at a rally headlined by Farrakhan in 2015.
In November 2018, the founder of the Women's March called for the co-chairs to step down, writing in a Facebook post that the current leadership has "steered the Movement away from its true course."
"In opposition to our Unity Principles, they have allowed anti-Semitism, anti-LBGTQIA sentiment and hateful, racist rhetoric to become a part of the platform by their refusal to separate themselves from groups that espouse these racist, hateful beliefs," Teresa Shook wrote.
Sarsour wrote a November 2018 statement responding to the accusations, denying any bigotry and saying the organization was "deeply invested in building better and deeper relationships with the Jewish community."
"The Women's March exists to fight bigotry and discrimination in all their forms — including homophobia and anti-Semitism — and to lift up the voices of women who are too often left out. We believe in a world where women from all backgrounds are equally represented in government, media, politics, and everywhere and invite everyone who shares these values to join us," she said.
The Women's March did not respond to a request for comment about the DNC's apparent decision to pull out as a sponsor for the 2019 march.
