Trump's dinner with antisemites provides test of GOP response to extremism - The Washington Post

Trump has been taken aback by the backlash and maintained that the contention implicit his Mar-a-Lago meal with achromatic nationalist Nick Fuentes and the rapper Ye, who has been vocally spouting antisemitic conspiracy theories, would stroke over, according to advisers who spoke connected the information of anonymity to sermon confidential conversations. “I deliberation it’s dying down,” they recalled Trump saying.

But the wave of denunciations lone intensified arsenic lawmakers returned to Washington from the Thanksgiving vacation this week, breaking a well-worn signifier of dodging oregon shrugging disconnected Trump’s controversies during overmuch of his presidency, perchance ushering successful a caller signifier of much vocal disapproval of him.

“We person to halt the whispered concerns and veiled statements, and we person to basal up for the principles and the beliefs that our state and enactment were founded on,” erstwhile New Jersey politician Chris Christie, the archetypal imaginable 2024 campaigner to condemn Trump connected the dinner, said connected Wednesday. “There is nary spot for antisemitism oregon achromatic supremacists successful the Republican Party and nary spot for anyone who gives radical similar Nick Fuentes the clip of day. Donald Trump’s caller actions and past of mediocre judgement marque him untenable arsenic a campaigner for our party.”

Rebukes from different apt 2024 challengers followed, including an exceptionally uncommon disapproval from Trump’s ain erstwhile vice president. “I deliberation helium should apologize for it, and helium should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification,” Mike Pence said in an interview with NewsNation that aired Monday.

Others were much cautious, with erstwhile caput of authorities Mike Pompeo denouncing antisemitism without naming Trump oregon his meal guests. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who Trump views arsenic a foremost menace successful a imaginable 2024 challenge, has not commented connected the controversy; DeSantis has his ain history of equivocating astir right-wing extremism. His spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.

The admonitions against Trump’s meal guests built connected wide complaints among Republicans that the erstwhile president damaged the party’s midterms show by discouraging his supporters from voting aboriginal oregon by message and by pushing candidates to parrot his lies astir the 2020 predetermination that repelled moderates and independents. Instead of capitalizing connected a reddish question to triumphantly state his 2024 candidacy, Trump announced his run with the contiguous enactment of only a fistful of far-right Republicans and faced an emboldened, divers tract of imaginable rivals for the statesmanlike nomination.

The dinner, coming conscionable a week aft Trump’s candidacy kickoff, besides underscored the risks of his antithetic post-presidential beingness and deficiency of a accepted run infrastructure. Fuentes and different guests arriving with Ye, formerly known arsenic Kanye West, were waved done Mar-a-Lago information without showing ID, radical acquainted with the substance said, and Trump had nary unit with him that evening but his idiosyncratic aide, Walt Nauta.

A Trump spokesperson declined to comment.

Up to the time of the dinner, aggregate advisers tried to person Trump to cancel it. Advisers showed Trump immoderate of Ye’s comments successful the efforts to speech him retired of the dinner, advisers said. Ye has mislaid concern deals and has been wide condemned for explicitly antisemitic tweets and diatribes.

But Trump, recalled 1 adviser, “wasn’t having immoderate of it.” The erstwhile president was focused connected Ye’s past of praising him, saying, “He’s ever been a bully feline to me.” Ye visited Trump astatine the White House successful 2018 and often praised his presidency.

Fuentes — an online commentator who attended the deadly achromatic nationalist rally successful Charlottesville successful 2017 — has espoused racist and antisemitic views, endorsed segregation, attacked immigrants and made airy of the Holocaust.

Several advisers said Trump was present aggravated astatine Ye for bringing Fuentes, but they said Trump didn’t program to onslaught Ye publicly.

Trump has besides resisted efforts successful caller days to transportation him to marque a connection denouncing Fuentes and Ye. His latest remarks addressing the controversy, reported Tuesday connected the Fox News website, emphasized his erstwhile assertion that helium did not cognize who Fuentes was. “I ne'er heard of the man,” Trump said. “I had nary thought what his views were, and they weren’t expressed astatine the array successful our precise speedy dinner, oregon it wouldn’t person been accepted.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she talked with Trump and his unit aft the meal and told reporters the erstwhile president reiterated to her helium “had nary thought who Nick Fuentes was.” Based connected conversations with Trump and his unit since the dinner, Greene said they are changing their protocols to guarantee that specified radical are not brought adjacent Trump again.

“Any erstwhile president should person that successful place,” she said. “If you don’t cognize who idiosyncratic is and don’t cognize what they’re about, you don’t cognize that they’re possibly a atrocious idiosyncratic successful your midst.”

Trump has called David Friedman, his erstwhile ambassador to Israel, to explicit his displeasure with Friedman’s tweet criticizing him, advisers said. Friedman did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Some advisers said they fearfulness Trump’s statements person further inflamed the controversy. His advisers person been flooded with tweets from Jewish allies and large Republicans begging Trump to condemn Fuentes.

“President Trump should condemn Kanye West and Nick Fuentes’s Jew hatred, antisemitism and Holocaust denial,” said Morton A. Klein, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, which honored Trump with a uncommon prize connected Nov. 13 recognizing his administration’s Israel policies. “Even if helium didn’t cognize who Nick Fuentes was — 1 could easy judge that to beryllium existent — but present that helium knows, helium should accidental something.”

The constituent of a connection denouncing Fuentes, 2 advisers said, would beryllium successful portion to halt the Republican disapproval of him. “One of his large problems is that helium doesn’t similar to knock radical who enactment him,” an advisor said. “If you enactment him, he’s not going to privation to onslaught you.”

Other Republicans, though, are present showing willingness to onslaught Trump astatine a level hardly seen since earlier helium became the party’s nominee successful 2016. The floodgates opened Monday arsenic astatine slightest 8 Republican senators joined successful criticizing the dinner. Their leader, Mitch McConnell, chimed successful connected Tuesday, saying, “Anyone gathering with radical advocating that constituent of view, successful my judgment, are highly improbable to ever beryllium elected president of the United States.” Trump responded to McConnell by calling him a “loser” successful the Fox News interview.

Also connected Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters helium believes that cipher “should beryllium spending immoderate clip with Nick Fuentes” and that “he has nary spot successful the Republican Party.” When reporters noted that helium had incorrectly suggested that Trump had condemned Fuentes, McCarthy said, “Well, I condemn his ideology. It has nary spot successful society. At all.”

Most Republicans kept the absorption and sharpest critiques for Fuentes alternatively than directing their ire astatine Trump. But mean Republicans were speedy to publically condemn Trump for the dinner, with retiring Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) saying connected Tuesday that it showed “extraordinarily mediocre judgment” connected Trump’s portion to convene specified a gathering.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) was arsenic captious connected the “lack of judgment” but went further successful stressing that it “warrants an unequivocal apology.”

“Fuentes is an evil quality that should not beryllium fixed a spot astatine immoderate table, fto unsocial astatine the array of a erstwhile American president,” helium said.

House Republicans were mostly dodging reporters’ questions astir the dinner, with a fistful wholly ignoring repeated attempts for answers. GOP aides, who spoke connected the information of anonymity to explicate Republicans’ frustrations, described the temper implicit the meal arsenic “dismal” and “very, precise bad” wrong the ranks. Several stressed that the past happening immoderate Republican wants to beryllium talking astir is the 2024 election, fto unsocial that the party’s person is eating with achromatic nationalists and antisemites.

But Trump’s staunchest allies successful the House are coming to his defense, echoing his effect that helium had nary thought who Fuentes was. Most did not code Ye, whose antisemitic rants successful caller months person been well-publicized.

“Listen, the president has nary sick volition quality successful his heart. He’s a very, precise benignant man,” Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) said Tuesday. “I don’t deliberation the president should beryllium held liable for immoderate feline helium didn’t announcement who showed up for a casual supper.”

The blowback from Republican lawmakers contrasted with the communal signifier during Trump’s presidency of often avoiding questions astir Trump’s latest outrages oregon claiming not to person seen his tweets. Trump’s absorption to condemning extremists who mightiness beryllium sympathetic to his candidacy recalls his effect to the 2017 Charlottesville protest, which Trump said included “very good people, connected some sides.” His remarks astatine the clip earned a rebuke from the Republican Jewish Coalition, prompted concern leaders to discontinue an advisory assembly and led a apical economical adjutant who is Jewish to consider resigning.

The lead-up to the Charlottesville march, organized arsenic a Unite the Right rally, marked a precocious constituent for practice wrong the utmost acold right, agelong fractured by infighting implicit ideological and idiosyncratic differences, according to Megan Squire, an extremism researcher with the Southern Poverty Law Center. At that time, she said, right-wing extremists were galvanized and emboldened by Trump’s palmy 2016 statesmanlike campaign, erstwhile White House advisor Stephen K. Bannon’s Breitbart News and the “alt-right” online community.

After a neo-Nazi killed a young counterprotester successful Charlottesville, the conjugation splintered again, arsenic leaders of antithetic groups traded blasted and struggled against lawsuits. The breakup led to the emergence of a caller harvest of leaders who were contiguous successful Charlottesville but escaped blasted for the violence, Squire said, including Fuentes and Proud Boys president Henry “Enrique” Tarrio.

Fuentes grew an online pursuing with live-streams, raising wealth that totaled much than $100,000 successful the 10 months earlier January 2021, according to Squire’s analysis. In that month, Fuentes was banned from large online platforms for his information successful the pro-Trump mob extracurricular the Capitol connected Jan. 6. Fuentes acceptable up his ain tract to broadcast his shows and cod money, making it harder for researchers to way but besides reducing his reach.

Fringe figures similar Fuentes often effort to summation vulnerability and legitimacy by getting adjacent to politicians. Fuentes organized conferences with speaking appearances by far-right House Republicans Greene and Paul A. Gosar (Ariz.), starring to criticism from enactment leaders. Gosar formed his 2021 quality astatine Fuentes’s league arsenic a misunderstanding but returned successful 2022. Greene stood by her information astatine the time.

Speaking to reporters connected Tuesday, Greene said she attended knowing she could talk to assemblage students. Following the uproar implicit her attendance, Greene recalled asking her unit to propulsion videos of Fuentes to recognize who helium was and “could not judge the worldly helium says.”

“I don’t privation thing to bash with him,” she said Tuesday aft reiterating Fuentes has nary spot successful the GOP. “I don’t regret talking to the kids that were determination due to the fact that I don’t recognize wherefore they travel him. But would I person gone to his event? No. But I’m disquieted astir kids that would travel him and that’s a shame due to the fact that I deliberation we each should be. Why would anybody travel idiosyncratic who says specified things?”

While the Trump meal is by acold Fuentes’s astir palmy stunt, it appears to person produced immense publicity but lone humble increases successful followers and income, according to Squire of the SPLC.

“They spell done these swings erstwhile they’re applicable and past irrelevant and past grasping for relevance again,” Squire said. “They don’t truly person thing other going, truthful this is the lone play.”

Another cardinal fig successful the Trump-Fuentes meal who has spun done cycles of relevance is Milo Yiannopoulos, a far-right provocateur who archetypal roseate to prominence done Breitbart. Yiannopoulos near the tract and was formed retired of the Conservative Political Action Conference successful 2017 pursuing the work of video clips successful which helium appeared to support relationships with underage boys.

But Yiannopoulos resurfaced earlier this twelvemonth arsenic a Capitol adjutant intern to Greene. Asked astir his hiring, Greene said she talks to him “occasionally” since helium lives successful her territory but that she was unaware of his ain antisemitic rants.

Ye announced his ain program to tally for president successful November and tapped Yiannopoulos arsenic his run manager. Ye said successful a caller podcast interrogation that helium met Yiannopoulos done a shaper for Alex Jones, the online conspiracy theorist ordered to wage a $49 cardinal assemblage verdict to parents of children killed successful the 2012 schoolhouse shooting successful Newtown, Conn. Yiannopoulos past introduced Ye to Fuentes.

Yiannopoulos has since claimed recognition for adding Fuentes to Ye’s meal with Trump arsenic a mode to harm the erstwhile president, telling NBC News helium did it “just to marque Trump’s beingness miserable.” Yiannopoulos has implicit the years toggled betwixt nationalist comments supporting and disparaging Trump. Yiannopoulos did not respond to a petition for comment.

Fuentes, successful a station to the alternate societal web Telegram, took objection to Yiannopoulos’s claims. “My volition was not to wounded Trump by attending the dinner, that is fake news,” helium wrote. “I emotion Donald Trump.”

Paul Kane and Camila DeChaulus contributed reporting.