User:FormalDude/Nick Fuentes, Donald Trump, and Kanye West meeting

On November 22, 2022, former U.S. president Donald Trump hosted rapper Kanye West for a dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, at West's request. West brought with him Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist and Holocaust denier, as well as a third party. After the event, according to Hugo Lowell, Trump intentionally did not disavow Fuentes over fears that it may "alienate a section of his base".

The nature of the event — in which a former President hosted guests with open antisemitic beliefs — was considered "unprecedented" in the modern era and garnered intense bipartisan criticism of Trump, with Republican leaders in Congress making a rare rebuke of Trump. The scandal raised questions over Trump’s tenability as a candidate in the 2024 election. Among American Jews, the ensuing discussion since the dinner has been described as the "most discomforting moment in U.S. history in a half-century or more." Commentators and politicians argued Trump's failure to condemn antisemitism and racism from the guests is implicit acceptance of their beliefs.

The aftermath of the meeting led to a call "across both parties and both chambers of Congress... to develop a unified national strategy to combat antisemitism." In response to the meeting, the White House announced that a round table on antisemitism would be led by Second Gentlemen Doug Emhoff. It is planned to be held on December 7, 2022.

Meeting
Kanye West had displayed erratic behavior and antisemitic comments in the month preceding the meeting. He stated on Twitter that he was "a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE [sic] The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda". West had also been accused of showing pornography to Adidas executives during a meeting on October 10, 2022.

Members of the meeting gave contradictory accounts of what occurred. According to Axios: ...a source stated that Trump seemed "seemed very taken" by Fuentes and "impressed that the 24-year-old was able to rattle off statistics and recall speeches dating back to his 2016 campaign".

Paraphrasing the conversation, the source said Fuentes told the president he preferred him to be "authentic," and that Trump seemed scripted and unlike himself during his recent 2024 campaign announcement speech. Trump responded, "You like it better when I just speak off the cuff," the source said. Fuentes replied that he did, calling Trump an "amazing" president when he was unrestrained. "There was a lot of fawning back and forth," the source added. In late November 2022, West (who had recently announced his own candidacy for the 2024 presidential election) visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago, along with white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. On November 24, West released a video in which he stated that Trump was "very impressed" by Fuentes. West also stated that Trump began screaming at him and telling him that he was going to lose after West asked Trump to be his vice-presidential candidate, stating, "Trump started basically screaming at me at the table telling me I was going to lose — I mean has that ever worked for anyone in history. I'm like hold on, hold on, hold on, Trump, you're talking to Ye". Trump, for his part, released a statement that after contacting him earlier in the week to arrange the visit, West "unexpectedly showed up with three of his friends, whom I knew nothing about", with whom Trump dined, and that "the dinner was quick and uneventful". Trump further elaborated several days later that he met with West to "help a seriously troubled man, who just happens to be black... who has been decimated in his business and virtually everything else". Trump also acknowledged advising West to drop out of the race.

Aftermath and reactions
News of the meeting was first reported by the online news organization Axios on November 25, 2022, citing two sources on the matter. Initial reports incorrectly stated that only West met with Trump. It later emerged that Fuentes was present at the dinner as well and conversed in detail with Trump.

Trump
Initially, Trump had attempted to defend the dinner in tweet assuring critics that West had "expressed no antisemitic views at the dinner table."

According to The Washington Post, Trump initially believed that the events of the evening would "blow over". But by December 1, the subsequent actions of Kanye and Fuentes after the dinner had "paint[ed] a different picture" of the situation.

According to Hugo Lowell, Trump "refused to disavow the outspoken" Fuentes "after they spoke over dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort", and that he "urged publicly and privately to denounce Fuentes in the aftermath of the dinner", which included West.

Executive branch
White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates stated on the November 26, 2022 that "Bigotry, hate, and antisemitism have absolutely no place in America - including at Mar-A-Lago" and that "Holocaust denial is repugnant and dangerous, and it must be forcefully condemned". President Joe Biden stated in a Twitter post on December 2, 2022: I just want to make a few things clear:

The Holocaust happened.

Hitler was a demonic figure.

And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides. Silence is complicity. The tweet was widely seen as criticism of Donald Trump's meeting with Fuentes and West.

House
Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy condemned the meeting, while not specifically condemning Trump for his actions.

Senate
Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer condemned the meeting, calling it "disgusting and dangerous" and "pure evil". Republican Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell condemned the meeting, stating: "Let me just say that there is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy."

Republican senators also criticized the meeting, with some saying it raised the profile of racists and antisemites. Among the Republican senators that issued statements condemning the meeting were Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Rick Scott of Florida, Mitt Romney of Utah, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Roy Blunt of Missouri, and Joni Ernst of Iowa. Additionally, Marco Rubio of Florida referred to Fuentes as "evil" and "an ass clown."

Governors
Republican governor Larry Hogan of Maryland called the meeting "disgraceful and unconscionable" and that "...it's so disgraceful and more people should be speaking up". Adding that "we need to stop talking about Donald Trump" and that "The party and the country need to move on from him". Adding that "There is no place for antisemitism or white supremacists in the Republican Party and no place for anyone who gives people like Nick Fuentes the time of day. Donald Trump’s recent actions and history of poor judgment make him untenable as a candidate for our party".

Other
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who served during Trump's term in office, stated: "I think he should apologize for it, and he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification".

David M. Friedman, who was appointed by Trump to be the United States Ambassador to Israel, stated that "To my friend Donald Trump, you are better than this," and that "Even a social visit from an antisemite like Kanye West and human scum like Nick Fuentes is unacceptable. I urge you to throw those bums out, disavow them and relegate them to the dustbin of history where they belong"

A commission appointed by conservative Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin referenced the meeting as part of a growing tide of antisemitism in the United States, stating that "even a former president recently met with two notorious antisemites".

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, stated in an interview with The Washington Post, that it "gave them [those with antisemitic views] a credibility that should have been unimaginable" and antisemitism "to the highest echelon of political life" and that "I never imagined this would be the day-to-day reality of our world".

Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League stated: "I would characterize this as the normalization of antisemitism. It has now become part of the political process in a way we hadn’t seen before" and that "And that is not unique to Republicans. It is not just a Republican problem. It is a societal problem".

International
Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu labeled the meeting a "mistake" for Trump to meet with West and Fuentes. In a follow up interview, he stated: "...On this matter, on Kanye West and that other unacceptable guest [Nick Fuentes], I think it's not merely unacceptable, it's just wrong. And I hope he sees his way to staying out of it and condemning it."

In the response to the meeting—and subsequent interviews from Fuentes and West about it—Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, stated: "At a time when antisemitism is on the rise, it is alarming that such vile rhetoric is given a platform and legitimized" and that West and Fuentes "engaged in hateful incitement, which could lead to violence and the death of Jews in horrifying incidents".

Responses from scholars, commentary
Historian Pamela Nadell stated that "I think we are at the moment living in the high tide of American antisemitism". Kathleen Belew, a historian and associate professor of history at Northwestern University, argued that it represented a huge "propaganda victory" for white nationalist movements in the United States.

Jack Jenkins of Religion News Service stated that "While the meeting at Trump’s club drew national outrage because of Fuentes’ antisemitic and white supremacist views, it was a win for an extreme subset of Christian nationalists who knit together virulent anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ sentiment, opposition to abortion and, in many cases, overt forms of antisemitism and white nationalism."

According to The New York Times, "Trump’s inner orbit is keenly aware he’s lost the excitement of 2016 and there’s a school of thought that ginning up the most die-hard of his base is key to bringing it back…that means reaching out to fringe, racist elements" and that it represented Trump aligning "himself with forces that used to be outside the mainstream of American politics." Additionally stating that he "has embraced extremist elements in American society even more unabashedly than in the past" and that "Analysts and strategists see Mr. Trump’s pivot toward the far right as a tactic to re-create political momentum that the former president may be losing, with at least some polls showing him trailing Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida for the Republican nomination in 2024."

According to The Washington Post, "The interview underscored Trump’s long-running ties to, and refusal to fully denounce, public figures known for spreading hate speech and baseless conspiracy claims".

Experts on political extremism interviewed by Yahoo! News described the dinner with Fuentes and West as "alarming," "concerning," "dangerous," "unprecedented" and "mind-boggling."

Commentator Charlie Sykes argued that: "Trump has been consistent in his reluctance to offend what he regards as a crucial part of the base that he has nurtured over the years. He is unapologetic about associating with overt neo-Nazis, and unwilling to issue full-throated denunciations of antisemitism. Trump is willing to draw this barrage of opprobrium for one simple reason: He believes that he has tapped into something in the American electorate, especially among evangelical Christians, who have ingrained — but complicated — attitudes toward Israel and Jews."

Conservative commentator Tiana Lowe of The Washington Examiner agued that Trump got "conned" from Fuentes and West. Andrew C. McCarthy of National Review criticized Trump's meeting.

Political impact
On December 6, 2022, Axios reported that a "wide-ranging group across both parties and both chambers of Congress, led by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-N.V.), is calling on President Biden to develop a unified national strategy to combat antisemitism" in light of the meeting and subsequent antisemitic comments by West in the following days. The group also stated that "interagency coordination also could benefit from considering a broadly understood definition of antisemitism, as several agencies have adopted or recognized individually".

The meeting was a catalyst for a round table led by Second Gentlemen Doug Emhoff on the issue of antisemitism. It is planned to be held on December 7, 2022. Considerations for a round table on antisemtism had been discussed in the preceding months, but "came to a head" after the meeting, subsequent comments by West, and other recent antisemitic comments made by prominent celebrities.

The Rolling Stone reported on December 7, 2022 that: "Republican Jewish activists, leaders, and perennial GOP donors are waging a behind-the-scenes pressure campaign to force Donald Trump into denouncing and disowning rapper Kanye West, Trump’s on-and-off friend and political supporter" along Nick Fuentes.

Surveys
A December 1-5, 2022 Yahoo! News poll found that an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose Trump's meeting with West. ''Yahoo! News'' stated that "...the more Americans learn about the dinner, the worse things start to look for Trump — especially among Republicans". It found that 54% of Americans believed that Trump "sometimes associate with racists" while 20% disagreed.