Many times, it is said that Trump was Trump’s worst enemy. This is because it is true. Democrats, activists media, and never-Trump Republicans can’t do as much damage to the former president as he himself.
This reality is best illustrated by the current controversy surrounding Trump’s unintentional dinner with Nick Fuentes (a white nationalist and Kanye West), who was controversial for making a number of anti-Semitic comments. It is important to remember that the issue was not dinner. It was the way that the former president dealt with it afterward.
Trump learned that he had eaten with a white nationalist after he was informed. He contacted Truth Social to discuss the matter. He said that West called him to “have dinner in Mar-a-Lago” but that he later showed up with three of his “unexpectedly arrived friends,” which he didn’t know anything about.
Trump’s response to dinner with Nicky Fuentes pic.twitter.com/wpwuDcGNYK
— Jeff Charles, Destroyer of Democracy (@JeffOnTheRight) November 25, 2022
When Trump had dinner with Fuentes, it was obvious that he didn’t know who Fuentes actually was. It seems that most of Trump’s team were spending Thanksgiving with their families, so there wasn’t anyone there to warn them against Fuentes. However, despite being advised by his advisors to do so, the former president did not take the time to distance himself from Fuentes after the event.
According to The Guardian:
In the wake of the dinner, the former US president was publicly and privately urged to denounce Fuentes. This included Ye, who used to be known as Kanye West but has recently been spreading antisemitic comments.
Trump avoided disavowing Fuentes outright, according to people. Despite the efforts of advisers who reached Trump during the Thanksgiving holiday, none of his statements on the campaign or on Truth Social included any criticism of Fuentes.
According to the report, Trump didn’t want to criticize Fuentes because he was afraid that it might alienate his base. He even posted posts in which he claimed he didn’t know Fuentes. This was because his team pressured Trump to issue a statement about the matter, noting that it could damage his personal brand and his newly launched 2024 presidential campaign.
According to reports, other aides claimed that Trump shouldn’t have met with Ye because of his current scandals. According to the report, Trump had hoped to meet with Ye one on one for some time. However, it was delayed around the time Ye posted offensive tropes about Jews. It was then inexplicably rescheduled to late November.
Fuentes has been downplaying the Holocaust and is not a fan of Trump as it stands now. Evidently, Fuentes, a white nationalist, took to Telegram in slander of Trump and urged his followers to vote for a different candidate.
“What will Christian Americans get from a speakership of [Kevin] McCarthy or a new Trump White House?” Lower gas prices Fuentes stated that lowering the corporate tax rate would help. Fuentes wrote, “Years will go by because things remain fundamentally unchanged, we have to dream bigger.”
Trump’s refusal to disavow Fuentes was not smart, especially considering that he was willing to take shots at Ye in other posts to Truth Social. He explained in one post that Ye was asking him for advice regarding some of his problems and that he had told Ye “he should not run for president.”
He wrote:
I helped a man in serious trouble, who happens to be black, Ye (Kanye) West. He has lost his business, as well as his life, and I allowed him to ask for a meeting at Mar-a-Lago. The other person is a politician whom I hadn’t seen in years. I said to him that running for office is a waste of time and he couldn’t win. Fake News went crazy!
He is open to criticizing Ye but cautious to speak unkindly about a white nationalist who downplayed Holocaust and supported “Catholic fascism?”
Here’s Nick Fuentes denying that the Holocaust happened.
Him and his followers are scum of the earth and their bad faith, anti-Semitic attacks should be shot down by the entire conservative movement. pic.twitter.com/7wJ9S7Q6zv
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) October 30, 2019
Ladies & Gentlemen, Nick Fuentes with the GOP mission statement:
“We need to take control of the media or take control of the government and force the people to believe what we believe. Force them to live by our rules.”
Fascism. They’re not hiding it. 👀pic.twitter.com/jzAuzmX0TP— BigBlueWaveUS ® — Support Raphael Warnock (@BigBlueWaveUSA) November 11, 2022
This is not a good look. This might not be so much of an issue if the candidate were not running for the presidency. But the truth is, he wants to run again for the presidency.
Trump is not the only one to stumble when faced with a racial problem. He is said to be hesitant about these issues because he fears it will drive his base members away. This is far from reality.
The majority of people on the right don’t subscribe to Fuente’s views and see him as the POS he is. It is very rare that Trump would be disowned by those who don’t agree with him. This is why the ex-president has nothing to fear. These types of unforced mistakes are not going to help Trump if he wants to be the president again.