Republican politicians have begun criticizing former President Donald Trump’s recent dinner with Kanye West and prominent anti-Semite Nick Fuentes.
Trump hosted West at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday, Nov. 22, with the rapper bringing Fuentes along to the meeting. The former president denied inviting or knowing Fuentes before the dinner in a TRUTH Social post, claiming that he took the meeting to advise West, who has been “decimated in his business.”
Several Republicans likely to challenge Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary called him out directly, with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie saying that the meeting demonstrated Trump’s “awful lack of judgment.” (RELATED: Don Lemon, Former Trump Officials Spar Over Trump’s Meeting With Nick Fuentes)
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for a leader that’s setting an example for the country or the party to meet with an avowed racist or antisemite,” former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said on CNN. “When you meet with people, you empower and that’s what you have to avoid, you want to diminish their strength, not empower them.”
Several sitting members of Congress also condemned the meeting. Fuentes, who has hosted Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar at his America First Political Action Conference, compares Jews who died in the Holocaust to cookies baking in an oven and praises Jim Crow segregation.
“President Trump hosting racist antisemites for dinner encourages other racist antisemites. These attitudes are immoral and should not be entertained. This is not the Republican Party,” Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy tweeted.
President Trump hosting racist antisemites for dinner encourages other racist antisemites. These attitudes are immoral and should not be entertained. This is not the Republican Party.
— U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (@SenBillCassidy) November 28, 2022
“I condemn white supremacy and anti-Semitism. The president should never have had a meal or even a meeting with Nick Fuentes,” Maine Sen. Susan Collins told reporters.
“He certainly needs better judgment in who he dines with,” Kentucky Rep. James Comer told Meet The Press’ Chuck Todd. “I wouldn’t take a meeting with Kanye West either.”