Several prominent Republicans are demanding that former President Donald Trump apologize for a dinner he had at Mar-a-Lago with Kanye West, now known as Ye, and white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
Former Vice President Mike Pence and a handful of GOP governors and lawmakers comprise a growing list of Republicans who have either condemned the meeting or demanded Trump apologize for the dinner.
GOV. BRIAN KEMP DENOUNCES TRUMP’S ‘UN-AMERICAN’ FAR-RIGHT DINNER GUEST
Pence: “President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an anti-Semite and a Holocaust denier, a seat at the table and I think he should apologize for it,” he said.
Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA): “Racism, antisemitism, and denial of the Holocaust have no place in the Republican Party and are completely un-American,” Kemp told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Rep. Susan Collins (R-ME): Centrist Republican Collins gave a strong condemnation on Monday as well, telling reporters, “I condemn white supremacy and antisemitism. The president should never have had a meal or even a meeting with Nick Fuentes,” according to the Hill.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA): “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,” Cassidy tweeted on Monday.
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.
— U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (@SenBillCassidy) November 28, 2022
Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR): Hutchinson said the dinner was “very troubling” and “wasn’t accidental.”
“It’s very troubling and it shouldn’t happen,” he added. “We need to avoid those kinds of empowering the extremes. When you meet with people you empower, and that’s what you have to avoid. You want to diminish their strength, not empower them. Stay away from them.”
Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ): Christie told the New York Times that the meeting made Trump “untenable” as a candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT): Romney gave a scathing criticism of the former president, saying that having dinner with Ye and Fuentes was “disgusting.”
“I don’t think he should be president of the United States. I don’t think he should be the nominee of our party in 2024,” Romney said. “And I certainly don’t want him hanging over our party like a gargoyle.”
“There is no bottom to the degree to which he’s willing to degrade himself and the country for that matter,” he added.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-GA): Graham told the Washington Post that Trump shouldn’t “give oxygen to people like that,” but he added that he would still support Trump.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA): “I think it’s ridiculous that he had that meeting. Just it’s ridiculous, and that’s all I’m gonna say about it.”
Joni Ernst (R-IA) on Trump’s meeting with Nick Fuentes: “I think it’s ridiculous that he had that meeting. Just it’s ridiculous, and that’s that’s all I’m gonna say about it”
— Nathaniel Reed (@ReedReports) November 28, 2022
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA): “I don’t think anybody should be spending any time with Nick Fuentes,” McCarthy said Tuesday. “He has no place in this Republican Party.”
“I think President Trump came out four times and condemned him but didn’t know who he was,” he continued, adding that he “condemn[s] his ideology. It has no place in society at all.”
Sen. John Thune (R-SD): “Well, that’s just a bad idea on every level. I don’t know who’s advising him on his staff, but I hope that whoever that person was got fired,” Thune was quoted as saying by Axios.
McConnell’s deputy John Thune weighs in: “Well, that’s just a bad idea on every level. I don’t know who’s advising him on his staff, but I hope that whoever that person was got fired.” https://t.co/35FoLyPNz5
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) November 28, 2022
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY): “Let me just say that there is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy. Anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view in my judgment is highly unlikely to ever be elected president.”
MCCONNELL: “Let me just say that there is no room in the Republican Party for anti semitism or white supremacy. Anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view in my judgement is highly unlikely to ever be elected president.”
— Lindsay Wise (@lindsaywise) November 29, 2022
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In a statement from Fuentes obtained by the Washington Examiner, he said, “I reject all labels other than Christian American.” He has previously expressed Holocaust denialism, using cookie baking as an analogy for the 6 million Jewish people who died.
“The math doesn’t quite seem to add up there. I don’t think it’d result in 6 million. Maybe 200 to 300,000 cookies,” he said.
Trump said he intended only to have dinner with Ye but that he brought along several uninvited guests, including Fuentes. He also said he was unaware of who Fuentes was.
