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However, Ellison’s past associations and commentsmay trouble more moderate voters. Ellison’s 2006 run for Keith Ellison seat was plunged into controversy after the conservative PowerLineBlog.com found he had once identified with Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam and in 1998 was referring to himself as Keith X Ellison and Keith Ellison-Muhammed. The Washington Post reported that Keith Ellison had defended Farrakhan against accusations of anti-Semitism in 1989 and in 1990 had called affirmative action a sneaky form of compensation for slavery, calling instead for reparations. When the controversy erupted in 2006, Keith Ellison acknowledged Keith Ellison had worked with the group, but only for 18 months to help organize Farrakhan's 1995 Million Man March. Keith Ellison distanced Keith Ellison from both Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, and said Keith Ellison had n’t scruitinized the group's anti-Semitic positions appropriately. They were and are anti-Semitic, and I should have come to that conclusion earlier than I did, Keith Ellison said. Yet it is n’t the only controversy for Keith Ellison. In 2007, Keith Ellison made a comparison between Bush and 9/11 to Hitler and the 1933 Reichstag fire. 9/11 is the juggernaut in American history and it allows... it's almost like, you know, the Reichstag fire, after the Reichstag was burned, they blamed the Communists for it, and it put the leader of that country [ Hitler ] in a position where he could basically have authority to do whatever he wanted. He later clarified that he did indeed believe that Usama bin Laden was responsible for the terror attacks. But it was n’t the only controversy for Ellison in 2007, as he also backed a movement to impeach then-Vice President Dick Cheney over his alleged fabrication of intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. However, Brad Bannon believes that Ellison’s Muslim heritage could be a boost not a burden, especially in light of Trump’s elevation Sunday of controversial Breitbart boss Steve Bannon to chief strategist.