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Donald Trump has caused something of a hugger-mugger over his last supper with Kanye West, or Ye, and Nick Fuentes. A variety of Jewish organizations are either wringing their collective hands (if they’ve been supporters of Trump) or outright denouncing him (if they’ve long viewed him as an odious figure). A few Republican leaders, including former vice president Mike Pence, who said it was “wrong” for Trump to break bread with the duo, are voicing their disapprobation. Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie tweeted on Saturday: “This is just awful, unacceptable conduct from anyone, but most particularly from a former President and current candidate.”
Unlike previous Trump controversies, this one does not appear to be subsiding after a 24-hour news cycle. The reason may be that, unlike Trump’s sexual peccadilloes, the former guy, as President Joe Biden likes to call him, has stumbled into a hot button issue — the recrudescence of antisemitism and Holocaust denial. Trump has maneuvered around the edges of these issues before (Charlottesville) but was never directly implicated in them. The image of a former president yakking it up with two sordid characters like West and Fuentes has provided an opportune moment for Trump’s foes to bash him for his lack of judgment.
For Trump, his tête-à-tête that evening will weaken but not cripple his political ambitions. He may well be enjoying the flap his meeting has caused. He has refused to deliver the apology that Pence declared he should offer. Instead he has sought refuge in a welter of shifting explanations, each calibrated to try and detach himself from the event without overtly attacking West and, above all, Fuentes. Fuentes has foot soldiers. Trump sees himself as a warlord. He needs Fuentes as much as Fuentes needs him. He thinks Fuentes has the right stuff, especially when contrasted with the lily-livered Jared who has bowed out from a role in the 2024 campaign. Perhaps he will even tap Fuentes in a supernumerary role.
Still, to Trump (or any sentient being for that matter), Fuentes, to the extent that he knows anything about him, must seem like a very odd bird indeed, not so much for his views about Jews as his claims that men having sex with women is the most “gay” activity they could pursue. By that standard, Trump’s heterosexuality would be most questionable.
As he gears up for his third run for the presidency, Trump has more serious concerns. His main one has to be with the former supporters in the party who are now drifting away. Among them is West, who is telling Trump only that he could serve as his vice president. Ye of little faith.
