Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan says his followers should still support Barack Obama, even if Obama doesn’t really want it.

“Those who have been supporting Sen. Barack Obama should not allow what was said during the Feb. 26 presidential debate to lessen their support for his campaign. This is simply mischief making intended to hurt Mr. Obama politically,” Farrakhan said in an unsolicited statement to the Associated Press.

Obama, as you’ll recall, said he never asked for Farrakhan’s support, couldn’t really do much about it one way or the other, and denounced Farrakhan’s well-known anti-Semitism.