- Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Ye for saying "all those great things about me on Tucker Carlson."
- He once again failed to condemn the rapper and fashion designer for his antisemitic outbursts.
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Kanye West for saying "all those great things about me on Tucker Carlson" and once again failed to condemn the rapper and fashion designer now known as "Ye" for his antisemitic outbursts.
Trump was responding to podcast host Chris Stigall, who suggested Ye was a "marked man" after aligning with him. He questioned whether Ye was getting a "fair shake."
Trump, whose daughter and son-in-law are Jewish, said he didn't know Ye that well, but liked him, always got along with him and felt "honored" by what Ye said about him during a Tucker Carlson interview.
"He made statements, rough statements, on Jewish," Trump said. "You've heard them and you know them well, and they're saying that was the reason. So then you ask, well, would it have been the same thing if he didn't say all those good things about Trump? You know, you just don't know."
Ye has recently lost billions of dollars in brand deals following his controversial behavior and antisemitic rants. During the podcast, Trump said Ye "will be fine" and added that he is a "very different kind of a guy."
"It was very interesting to hear him on Tucker Carlson because you know, you never hear him in long sentences, right?" Trump said. "He was actually very sharp and very, very smart. I was impressed by a lot of what he said."
Trump, who has also been called out for using antisemitic tropes, said people "go after conservatives."
"The Republicans aren't tough enough. They allow it to happen," he said.
—The Recount (@therecount) November 1, 2022
Ye was banned from Twitter last month after tweeting that he was "going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE" and he had his Instagram account restricted after he posted an apparent text he'd sent to to Sean "Diddy" Combs, saying, "Ima use you as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me."
More examples of antisemitism emerged in leaked footage from his Tucker Carlson interview. He also ranted on Drink Champs about"getting screwed by the Jewish media," and said "Jewish people have owned the Black voice."
Last month, Trump reacted similarly when radio host Larry O'Connor sought a response to Ye's antisemitic comments and other statements about Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Ye had said during the Carlson interview that he believed Kushner's Middle East inititiaves when Trump was in office were intended to make him money, The Hill reported.
"Well, I haven't really seen the statements he's made. I did watch the Tucker Carlson interview and he was really nice to me. Beyond anybody, he was … he was great to me, and to the MAGA movement, which was really impressive," Trump said, according to The Hill.