Trump urges apology for dinner with Kanye West and Holocaust-denying white nationalists | US News

Former US Vice President Mike Pence has criticized Donald Trump for having dinner with a Holocaust denying white nationalist and rapper formerly known as Kanye West.

Mr Pence joined many Republicans in calling on the former US president to apologize for what he called “extremely poor judgment”.

The group — Mr Trump, Ye and Nick Fuentes, a far-right activist with anti-Semitic and white nationalist views — met at Mar-a-Lago last week.

In an interview with NewsNation on Monday night, Mr Pence said: “President Trump wrongly gave a seat to a white nationalist, an anti-Semite and a Holocaust denier, and I think he should apologize for that.

“He should unreservedly condemn those people and their hate speech.”

But Mr. Pence insisted that Mr. Trump was not anti-Semitic or racist and said he would not have served as his vice president if he had been.

Other Republicans who have criticized Mr Trump include Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, who said: “President Trump’s hosting of racist anti-Semites at dinner encourages other racist anti-Semites.

“These attitudes are immoral and should not be accepted.”

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Washington, Jan. 12, protesting the Electoral College certification of Joe Biden's presidency.  6, 2021. House committee investigating January.  6 Uprising has interviewed nearly 1,000 people. But the nine-member panel has yet to speak to two of the day's event's most prominent attendees -- former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) Image: AP
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Donald Trump.Photo: Associated Press

Senator Rick Scott of Florida added: “There’s no place in the Republican Party for anti-Semitism or white supremacy. Period.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a longtime Trump ally, said: “Yeah, the meeting was bad.

“He shouldn’t have done that.”

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But he added that “there is a double standard in this kind of thing and I don’t think that has any bearing on his political future”.

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri said Mr Trump could “have dinner with whoever he wants to have dinner with, but I’m not going to have dinner with him (Mr Fuentes), I’m going to say that” .

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told the New York Times that the dinner was “just another example of Donald Trump’s severe lack of judgment.”

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Retiring Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson told CNN it was “very disturbing” — adding “it shouldn’t be happening.”

But others, including House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have remained silent.

Mr. Trump said he did not know who Mr. Fuentes was before the meeting, but he did not condemn the views of Mr. Fuentes or their dinner partner Yeh, who has also made anti-Semitic remarks in recent weeks.

The GOP continues to grapple with how to deal with Mr. Trump.

Many blame him for the party’s performance in the midterm elections, which was worse than expected, but they also recognize that Mr Trump, who recently announced he would run for president again in 2024, remains popular with his supporters welcome.

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