Nick Fuentes, Donald Trump, and Kanye West meeting

On November 22, 2022, former U.S. president Donald Trump hosted rapper and antisemite Kanye West, and white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes for a dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. The nature of the event garnered bipartisan criticism of Trump.
The New York Times has commented that for American Jews "the debate since the dinner has brought into focus what may be the most discomfiting moment in U.S. history in a half-century or more." It also commented that Trump's failure to decline the meeting or explicitly condemn the antisemitic and white nationalist views held by Fuentes represented an embracing of extremism by Trump.
Meeting
In late November 2022, Kanye 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. 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. 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.
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 Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana stated: "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". 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". 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"
International
Israeli former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeled the meeting a "mistake" for Trump to meet with West and Fuentes.
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".
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 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."<ref name=":1" />

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