Former President Donald Trump hosted white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and rapper Kanye West at his Mar-a-Lago estate this week, showing his continued willingness to associate with figures with widely publicized anti-Semitic views as he begins another run at the White House. .
West, who legally changed his name to Ye, posted a video Thursday on Twitter in which he claimed Trump “is really impressed with Fuentes,” who has repeatedly made anti-Semitic and racist comments as documented by the Union Against of Defamation.
Fuentes, West said in the Twitter video, “is actually loyal” to Trump, unlike others he said abandoned the former president after the 2020 election.
In a text message conversation West posted Thursday, he and Fuentes said they both met with the former president. A source confirmed to CNN Trump’s dinner with Fuentes and West, who became embroiled in controversy after repeating anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and other offensive claims during a podcast appearance in October.
A source familiar with the dinner said Fuentes was Kanye’s guest and was not invited by the former president.
Trump acknowledged the dinner in a post on Truth Social Friday, stating, “Last week, Kanye West invited me to dinner at Mar-a-Lago. A little later, he showed up unexpectedly with three of his friends, about whom I knew nothing. We had dinner on Tuesday night with many members present on the back patio. Dinner was quick and hassle free. Then they left for the airport.”
Trump later reiterated Friday that he “didn’t know” Fuentes and had offered West business and political advice.
“I told him he should definitely not run for President, ‘whatever voters you may have should vote for TRUMP,'” the former president wrote on Truth Social. “Anyway, we got along great, he didn’t express anti-Semitism and I appreciated all the nice things he said about me on ‘Tucker Carlson’.”
The White House on Friday condemned Fuentes’ appearance at Mar-a-Lago.
“Bigotry, hatred and anti-Semitism have absolutely no place in America – including at Mar-A-Lago. “Holocaust denial is abhorrent and dangerous and must be strongly condemned,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement to CNN.
David Friedman, Trump’s former ambassador to Israel, also condemned the former president’s relationship with West and Fuentes.
“To my friend Donald Trump, you are better than this. Even a social visit from an antisemite like Kanye West and human scum like Nick Fuentes is unacceptable. I urge you to throw these bums out, disown them and relegate them to the dustbin of history where they belong,” he said in a pair of tweets Friday afternoon. “Anti-Semites deserve no quarter among American leaders, right or left.”
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West’s recent anti-Semitic remarks have caused companies he was associated with – including Adidas and Balenciaga – to cut ties with him. He has made many inflammatory statements over the years, including claims that slavery was a “choice” and “racism is an outdated concept.”
Fuentes has been labeled a white supremacist by the Anti-Defamation League and has been banned from most major social media platforms for his white nationalist rhetoric. Fuentes was present at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 and promoted Trump’s baseless allegations of fraud in the 2020 election. The House Select Committee investigating the events of January 6 issued a subpoena to Fuentes in January.
West tweeted late Tuesday night that he had kept Trump waiting during his first visit to Mar-a-Lago because of rain and traffic. And Right Wing Watch, a project of the left-wing group People for the American Way, released footage Tuesday of West and Fuentes walking together at the Miami airport. This video was included in the video West posted on Twitter.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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