Trump’s Jewish Allies Denounce Dinner with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes - The New York Times

For overmuch of Donald J. Trump’s presidency, Jewish Republicans rationalized distant the bigoted fringe of Mr. Trump’s coalition, arguing that the unsavory supporters successful his midst and the antisemitic tropes helium deployed paled successful examination with the staunchly pro-Israel policies of his administration.

But past week, Mr. Trump dined astatine his Palm Beach palace, Mar-a-Lago, with the performer Kanye West, who had already been denounced for making antisemitic statements, and with Nick Fuentes, an outspoken antisemite and Holocaust denier, granting the antisemitic fringe a spot of grant astatine his table. Now, adjacent immoderate of Mr. Trump’s staunchest supporters accidental they tin nary longer disregard the abetting of bigotry by the nominal person of the Republican Party.

“I americium a kid of survivors. I person go precise frightened for my people,” Morton Klein, caput of the right-wing Zionist Organization of America, said connected Monday, referring to his parents’ endurance of the Holocaust. “Donald Trump is not an antisemite. He loves Israel. He loves Jews. But helium mainstreams, helium legitimizes Jew hatred and Jew haters. And this scares me.”

Not each Republican leaders person spoken out, but Jewish Republicans are dilatory peeling distant from a erstwhile president who, for years, insisted helium had nary ties to the bigoted acold right, but refused to repudiate it. Jewish figures and organizations that person stood by Mr. Trump, from Mr. Klein’s radical to the pro-Trump commentator Ben Shapiro to Mr. Trump’s ain erstwhile ambassador to Israel and onetime bankruptcy lawyer, David M. Friedman, person each spoken retired since the dinner.

“We person a agelong past successful this state of separating the motivation quality of the antheral successful the White House from his behaviour successful office, but with Trump, it’s gone beyond immoderate of the reasonably acceptable and justifiable norms,” Jay Lefkowitz, a erstwhile advisor to President George W. Bush and a protagonist of galore of Mr. Trump’s policies, said connected Monday.

For American Jewry, the statement since the meal has brought into absorption what whitethorn beryllium the astir discomfiting infinitesimal successful U.S. past successful a half-century oregon more.

“The normalization of antisemitism is here,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, main enforcement of the Anti-Defamation League.

On Monday afternoon, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic bulk leader, went to the Senate level to denounce Mr. Trump’s actions arsenic “disgusting and dangerous,” past called them “pure evil.”

Mr. West, a fig with an tremendous following, has espoused hatred of the Jews. The hoops prima Kyrie Irving has dispersed antisemitic views with a tweet, though helium yet apologized. Neo-Nazis are returning to Twitter, bringing memes and coded messages not seen for years, present that its caller owner, Elon Musk, has reinstated accounts that had been blocked for bigotry. Mr. Musk himself connected Monday tweeted a cartoon of “Pepe” the frog, a awesome adopted by the alt-right conception of the achromatic supremacist movement. That followed a tweet past month of a German worker from World War II, which was cited by achromatic nationalist Telegram accounts arsenic grounds of Mr. Musk’s like-mindedness.

And House Republican leaders accidental they volition reinstate Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, and Paul Gosar, Republican of Arizona, to committees from which they were jettisoned by Democrats successful portion for their antisemitic comments oregon associating with achromatic supremacists similar Mr. Fuentes.

“The level of antisemitism being expressed, antisemitic acts astatine a precise elevated level, and the acceptability of antisemitism — it is each creating an situation which is, convey God, antithetic for the United States, and it has to beryllium nipped successful the bud. That’s it. That’s the infinitesimal we’re in,” said Rabbi Moshe Hauer, enforcement vice president of the Orthodox Union, which represents the subdivision of Judaism that has been astir supportive of Mr. Trump.

Peter Hayes, a Northwestern University historian, drew comparisons to the 1930s, erstwhile fashionable figures similar Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford and Father Charles Coughlin utilized newspapers, vigor broadcasts and the speakers circuit to echo the antisemitism past taking basal successful Germany. American Jews were profoundly divided implicit whether to face Nazism head-on done protests and boycotts oregon to enactment down the scenes retired of fearfulness of inflaming antisemitism, said Mr. Hayes, a student of that era.

Now, Mr. West has promised connected Twitter to “go decease con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE.” The comedian Dave Chappelle delivered a stinging monologue connected “Saturday Night Live” connected “the Jews” and their numbers successful Hollywood. And astatine the aforesaid time, American Jewry is divided implicit whether denunciations of Mr. Trump mightiness harm American argumentation toward Israel, should helium instrumentality to power, Mr. Hayes said.

“The much radical prioritize Israel, the much they are consenting to marque excuses for Trump, and that conscionable makes maine sad,” helium said.

Mr. Trump tried during his presidency to support the racists and antisemites who supported him astatine an arm’s region without banishing them altogether. Many Jews accepted the sleight of manus due to the fact that his policies delivered acquisition aft gift to the right-wing Israeli authorities of Benjamin Netanyahu: moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, relentlessly pressuring the Palestinians, recognizing the annexation of the Golan Heights, scuttling the atomic accord with Iran, pursuing bid accords betwixt Israel and the Gulf States, and supra all, dropping immoderate unit to dismantle Jewish settlements successful the occupied West Bank.

The contented astir came to a caput aft the racist, antisemitic “Unite the Right” march successful Charlottesville, Va., successful 2017, erstwhile Mr. Trump said determination had been “very good radical connected some sides” of the deadly confrontation. Prominent Jewish members of his medication astir resigned implicit Mr. Trump’s refusal to renounce the bigotry much forcefully.

Mr. Klein, successful an interview, again defended Mr. Trump’s actions connected Charlottesville, though helium acknowledged being troubled by the president’s nonaccomplishment to clarify his “both sides” remark. Even now, Mr. Klein conceded, denouncing Mr. Trump was hard for him. His radical honored the erstwhile president astatine a gala connected Nov. 13 for his actions connected behalf of Israel, “and,” Mr. Klein said, “he deserved it.”

But Mr. Trump’s excuses for eating with Mr. Fuentes and Mr. West — that helium didn’t cognize the achromatic supremacist and was offering his assistance to the instrumentalist — person fallen short. On Monday, Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, wrote connected Twitter, “President Trump hosting racist antisemites for meal encourages different racist antisemites. These attitudes are immoral and should not beryllium entertained. This is not the Republican Party.” Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, denounced the meal arsenic well.

Mr. Shapiro, who came nether near-constant onslaught successful 2016 from neo-Nazi Trump supporters but stood by Mr. Trump astatine the clip nonetheless, besides rejected the erstwhile president’s excuses: “A bully mode not to accidentally dine with a vile racist and anti-Semite you don’t cognize is not to dine with a vile racist and anti-Semite you bash know,” helium wrote connected Twitter connected Sunday.

The Orthodox Union not lone called connected Mr. Trump to condemn his meal guests and chopped each ties with them, but besides asked “responsible leaders — particularly those successful the Republican Party — to talk up, arsenic erstwhile U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has, and beryllium counted among those who explicitly cull antisemitism.” Quoting the Talmud, Rabbi Hauer, the group’s enforcement vice president, said Mr. Trump’s bully deeds connected Israel did not negate his atrocious deeds connected hate, and vice versa.

“That’s what makes beingness complex,” helium said.

Appearing connected CNN connected Sunday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, who harbors ambitions to tally for the Republican statesmanlike information successful 2024, said, “I anticipation someday we won’t person to beryllium responding to what erstwhile President Trump has said oregon done. In this instance, it’s important to respond.” He accused the erstwhile president of “empowering” the country’s bigoted extremes.

Others look to person equivocated arsenic they waited to spot whether Mr. Trump would again upwind the controversy. The Republican Jewish Coalition’s archetypal connection condemned Mr. Fuentes and Mr. West for their “virulent antisemitism” but did not notation the erstwhile president, alternatively calling “on each governmental leaders to cull their messages of hatred and garbage to conscionable with them.”

Facing criticism, Matt Brooks, the group’s enforcement director, past followed with, “Let maine dumb it down for y’all. We didn’t notation Trump successful our @rjc connection adjacent though it’s evidently successful effect to his gathering due to the fact that we wanted it to beryllium a informing to ALL Republicans. Duh!”

Ari Fleischer, a erstwhile property caput nether George W. Bush and a subordinate of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s board, said helium accepted Mr. Trump’s connection that helium didn’t cognize Mr. Fuentes. But helium said Mr. Trump should person added that, “had helium known, Fuentes would ne'er person been allowed into Mar-a-Lago.”

Still, Mr. Fleischer tempered his disapproval of Mr. Trump with an aged photograph of erstwhile President Barack Obama with Louis Farrakhan, the virulently antisemitic person of the Nation of Islam. And helium added, successful an email: “I should besides notation that I bash not see Trump an anti-Semite and I stay appreciative of his heavy enactment for Israel and for the 4 bid treaties helium helped unafraid successful the Middle East. I bash see the erstwhile president idiosyncratic who mistakenly succumbs to flattery from unsafe places.”

Mike Pence, Mr. Trump’s vice president, besides said Monday that helium did not judge Mr. Trump was an antisemite oregon a racist. But helium told Leland Vittert connected the broadcaster NewsNation that Mr. Trump had “demonstrated profoundly mediocre judgement successful giving those individuals a spot astatine the table” and that helium should apologize and “denounce them without qualification.”

Many Republicans person said nothing, including Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, who aspires to go the House talker adjacent year, and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Mr. Trump’s strongest rival for the Republican statesmanlike information successful 2024.

Calls and emails to Jewish figures of Mr. Trump’s administration, specified arsenic erstwhile Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and to salient Jewish Republican donors including Ron Lauder, Miriam Adelson, Lewis Eisenberg and Paul Singer, each went unanswered. Gary Cohn, a elder economical advisor who nearly discontinue aft Charlottesville, declined to comment.

For his part, Mr. Trump shows nary motion of contrition. His spokeswoman, Liz Harrington, told a right-wing broadcaster connected Monday that Mr. Trump was “probably the astir pro-Israel president we’ve ever had,” past added: “President Trump is not going to shy distant from gathering with Kanye West.”

Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.