GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson said former President Donald Trump’s meeting with a white nationalist last week was not “accidental.”
Trump, who this month announced he was running for president in the 2024 election, hosted a dinner with white supremacist Nick Fuentes and rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, at his Mar-a-Lago resort Tuesday night.
“You could have accidental meetings. Things like that happened. This was not an accidental meeting,” Hutchinson, the Arkansas governor, said during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union.
Hutchinson added that “it’s not a good idea for a leader that’s setting an example for the country or the party to meet with an avowed racist or antisemite. 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.”
Trump has demonstrating his continued willingness to associate with figures who have well-publicized antisemitic views, even after announcing his run for reelection to the presidency of the United States,
David Friedman, Trump’s former ambassador to Israel, and former GOP New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have both criticized Trump’s dinner.
A spokesman for President Joe Biden is sharply criticizing former President Donald Trump for having dinner with white nationalist Nick Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago club last week.
“Bigotry, hate, and antisemitism have absolutely no place in America – including at Mar-A-Lago. Holocaust denial is repugnant and dangerous, and it must be forcefully condemned,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement, according to ABC News.
In a series of statements, Trump played down Fuentes’ involvement, insisting he didn’t know who Fuentes was before they met and that he was unaware Fuentes would be joining the meal.
“This past week, Kanye West called me to have dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Shortly thereafter, he unexpectedly showed up with three of his friends, whom I knew nothing about,” Trump said in one statement on Friday.
In a video released on Twitter, Ye said their dinner became heated when he and Trump discussed politics. He contended that Trump was “really impressed with Nick Fuentes.”
In his social media statements, Trump said he and Ye “got along great” and that Ye “expressed no anti-Semitism.”
