Guess who shouldn’t be coming to dinner?
If you answered Kanye (“Ye”) West and Nick Fuentes, ding ding ding! Right answer! It’s unlikely that anyone reading this page would even have entertained the thought of hosting a man embroiled for some weeks now in controversy around his use of racist and anti-Semitic language and a misogynist who has openly denied the Holocaust. Yet former President Donald Trump did just that. He hosted this dynamic duo for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago home last Friday night.
There’s no way for Trump to feign ignorance on this one. A person would have to be living in a bunker with no WiFi not to be aware of what’s been going on with Ye. Even if Trump did not know who Fuentes was (skepticism? ding ding ding!), Ye’s recent behavior should have provided some indication to Trump what kind of company he would be keeping. Remember, this was no mere handshake-in-the-hall meet and greet.
These people broke bread together!
In the ultimate “some of my best friends are . . . ,” Trump loves to invoke his daughter and son-in-law as some kind of ironclad defense against accusations of anti-Semitism. Yet he sups with a man who was a passionate participant in the racist 2017 Unite the Right rally — where Fuentes was among those chanting, “Jews will not replace us”!
What is dumbfounding is that Trump seemingly is unable to see how his behavior endangers his Jewish grandchildren.
Probably, to him, his grandchildren are impervious to anti-Semitism because they are his grandchildren.
Such an assumption would be very, very wrong. By inviting known anti-Semites to his table, Trump is stirring, indeed fueling the flames of, those who already vocally and violently oppose Jews. Incidentally, such people do not tend to distinguish between “favorable” and “unfavorable” Jews.
“Is Trump an anti-Semite?” is not the “gotcha” question some think it is. It’s not even necessarily a question worth asking. The important question is who — and what — is Trump legitimizing?
We do not doubt that Trump has great love for his Jewish family, how could he not? But his willingness to leverage anyone and anything for his personal and political ambition seemingly eclipses his care for those “Jewish best friends.”
Trump’s former anti-Semitism envoy Elan Carr, his former Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, heck, even Mort Klein, whose ZOA recently honored Trump with its Herzl Award, have called out Trump. These three are among Trump’s staunchest defenders in a Jewish community that has largely and loudly been critical of Donald Trump, even as many acknowledge his administration’s uniquely positive moves on Israel and the Middle East.
Thus far, even being called out by his most loyal followers has not caused Trump to condemn his dinner companions. We hope that he will heed their calls to do so…but we’re not holding our breath.
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