- Trump recently dined with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes, who have both spewed anti-Semitic statements.
- Most Republicans have been silent on the matter so far. But now, two GOP senators are weighing in.
Former President Donald Trump is facing criticism from senators in his own party after dining with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes — both of whom have a history of spewing anti-Semitic rhetoric — at Mar-a-Lago this month.
So far, it's coming from two Republicans who have a history of breaking with Trump.
"President Trump hosting racist antisemites for dinner encourages other racist antisemites," wrote Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana on Twitter. "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
"I condemn white supremacy and anti-semitism," Sen. Susan Collins of Maine told NBC reporters Sahil Kapur and Frank Thorp. "The president should never have had a meal or even a meeting with Nick Fuentes."
—Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) November 28, 2022
Both Cassidy and Collins were among the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump for incitement of an insurrection following the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
The controversy began on November 22, when Trump had dinner with both Fuentes and West. The rapper brought the 24-year-old Fuentes — a white nationalist with a history of anti-Semitic rhetoric — to the dinner, saying in a since-deleted Twitter video afterwards that Trump was "really impressed" with Fuentes.
The former president has since sought to distance himself from the incident, claiming on Truth Social that he "didn't know" Fuentes while stating that West — who recently declared on Twitter that he was "going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE" — "expressed no anti-Semitism" during the dinner. He has not condemned the statements of either Fuentes or West.