Republican lawmakers "have largely remained silent" after former President Donald Trump hosted Kanye "Ye" West and Nick Fuentes, a Holocaust denier and white supremacist, for dinner at Mar-a-Lago last week, Axios reported Sunday. "Spokespeople for nearly two dozen House and Senate Republicans — including party leaders, co-chairs of caucuses and task forces focused on Judaism or antisemitism, and sponsors of legislation to combat antisemitic hate crimes — did not respond to requests for comment," reviving "a tactic they frequently relied on during his presidency."
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), the Republican co-chair of the bipartisan Caucus for the Advancement of Torah Values, said he is "appalled" at Trump's dinner party, and Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) told NBC's Meet the Press that Trump "needs better judgment in who he dines with." Outgoing Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), frequent Trump critics, also condemned his meeting with Fuentes — and the failure of GOP leadership to do the same.
Outgoing Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) told CNN on Sunday he hopes "someday we won't have to be responding to what former President Trump has said or done," but "in this instance it's important to respond," and Trump meeting with and empowering an "avowed" antisemite and white supremacist is "very troubling and it shouldn't happen."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Republican Jewish groups and individuals, notably Trump's former ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, criticized the dinner with Ye and Fuentes, and former Gov. Chris Christie (R), like Hutchinson a potential 2024 GOP presidential primary rival to Trump, called it "another example of an awful lack of judgment" that makes Trump an "untenable" presidential candidate.
Trump said several times since West revealed their dinner with Fuentes and two others that he "had never met and knew nothing about" about one of his dinner guests, presumably meaning Fuentes. He has also insisted to aides since Tuesday's dinner "that he did not know Fuentes, a Trump supporter active on Truth Social," though "some in his circle said they were skeptical," The Washington Post reports. Privately, advisers described the dinner as "horrible" and "totally awful."
Ye brought Fuentes, 24, to Mar-a-Lago without informing Trump beforehand, but Ye and one of the other dinner guests, former Trump senior adviser Karen Giorno agreed that Trump was really impressed with Fuentes. The cordial dinner turned tense after Trump "started talking negatively" about Kim Kardashian, Ye's ex-wife, Giorno told the Post, and got really heated when Ye offered Trump a spot as his running mate in 2024.
-
October 13 editorial cartoonsCartoons Monday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's consolation prize, government workers during shutdown, and more
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
The Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being releasedThe Explainer Triumphant Donald Trump addresses the Israeli parliament as families on both sides of the Gaza war reunite with their loved ones
-
Trump’s deportations are changing how we think about foodIN THE SPOTLIGHT The Department of Labor’s admission that immigration raids have affected America’s food supplies reopens a longstanding debate
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia JamesSpeed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in ChicagoSpeed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Gaza peace deal: why did Trump succeed where Biden failed?Today's Big Question As the first stage of a ceasefire begins, Trump’s unique ‘just-get-it-done’ attitude may have proven pivotal to negotiations
-
Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leadersSpeed Read The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area
-
The party bringing Trump-style populism to JapanUnder The Radar Far-right party is ‘shattering’ the belief that Japan is ‘immune’ to populism’
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-offSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Can Trump bully Netanyahu into Gaza peace?Today's Big Question The Israeli leader was ‘strong-armed’ into new peace deal
