Prominent Republicans criticize Trump’s dinner with Kanye West and far-right Nick Fuentes
Brady Knox
Video Embed
Several prominent Republicans are demanding that former President Donald Trump apologize for a dinner he had at Mar-a-Lago with Kanye West, now known as Ye, and white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
Former Vice President Mike Pence and a handful of GOP governors and lawmakers comprise a growing list of Republicans who have either condemned the meeting or demanded Trump apologize for the dinner.
Pence: “News: @Mike_Pence tells me former president trump should apologize for dinner with anti-semites,” NewsNation anchor Leland Vittert said on Monday.
GOV. BRIAN KEMP DENOUNCES TRUMP’S ‘UN-AMERICAN’ FAR-RIGHT DINNER GUEST
https://twitter.com/LelandVittert/status/1597337725375741953?s=20&t=oOctzs7YyXfA3vSJoxxu4g
Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA): “Racism, antisemitism, and denial of the Holocaust have no place in the Republican Party and are completely un-American,” Kemp told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Rep. Susan Collins (R-ME): Centrist Republican Collins gave a strong condemnation on Monday as well, telling reporters, “I condemn white supremacy and antisemitism. The president should never have had a meal or even a meeting with Nick Fuentes,” according to the Hill.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA): “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,” Cassidy tweeted on Monday.
https://twitter.com/SenBillCassidy/status/1597280586070372356?s=20&t=PWWayK4h5rQlP3hh_9g4dg
Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR): Hutchinson said the dinner was “very troubling” and “wasn’t accidental.”
“It’s very troubling and it shouldn’t happen,” he added. “We need to avoid those kinds of empowering the extremes. When you meet with people you empower, and that’s what you have to avoid. You want to diminish their strength, not empower them. Stay away from them.”
Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ): Christie perhaps went the furthest of any Republican, telling the New York Times that the meeting made Trump “untenable” as a candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
Sen. John Thune (R-SD): “Well, that’s just a bad idea on every level. I don’t know who’s advising him on his staff, but I hope that whoever that person was got fired,” Thune was quoted as saying by Axios.
https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1597348313170292736?s=20&t=le7PPNKjx5Hi-U_GuXviow
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) declined to comment on the story when asked, saying, “I’m going to have my usual stakeout tomorrow after lunch, and I’d be happy to take your questions then.”
https://twitter.com/AndrewSolender/status/1597328370823413764?s=20&t=LfobLfF35BFvW7sCNZwN4A
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In a statement from Fuentes obtained by the Washington Examiner, he said, “I reject all labels other than Christian American.” He has previously expressed Holocaust denialism, using cookie baking as an analogy for the 6 million Jewish people who died.
“The math doesn’t quite seem to add up there. I don’t think it’d result in 6 million. Maybe 200 to 300,000 cookies,” he said.
Trump said he intended only to have dinner with Ye but that he brought along several uninvited guests, including Fuentes. He also said he was unaware of who Fuentes was.