Donald Trump went too far. From the outset of his political career, Trump has been accused of supporting the racist Right and some of his statements in this regard have come under harsh criticism by his Democratic rivals. But, despite this, throughout all these years, Trump has avoided any soundbite that might sound antisemitic.
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He has even boasted the fact that his daughter Ivanka converted to Judaism and his two grandchildren are Jewish. But then came the meeting with antisemitic rapper Ye, and Holocaust denier, Nick Fuentes, followed by criticism even from those who were his allies.
The aforementioned meeting was held in Trump's mansion at Mar-a-Lago. Trump claimed after the meeting that had only arranged for Ye's arrival, but the latter surprised Trump and brought Fuentes with him. Trump claimed that he did not know of him previously. "He arrived unexpectedly with three of his friends, whom I had never heard of. We had dinner with many friends. The meal was quick and eventless."
Trump added that he tried to convince the rapper not to run for the US presidency in 2024. Ye, on his part, claimed that Trump was positively impressed by Fuentes.
Both Ye and Fuentes have a long history of public comments against Jews. Only a month ago, Ye was removed from social media's Instagram and Twitter exactly for this reason. In one case, he claimed that a rapper named Didi was "controlled by the Jews." In the past, he claimed that he "loves Hitler and the Nazis." Fuentes believes in the supremacy of the white race, regularly incites against the Jews on social media, and is a self-declared Holocaust denier.
Following the meeting, a close associate of Trump, former Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, tweeted: "To my friend Donald Trump, you are better than this. Even a social visit from an antisemite like Kanye West and human scum like Nick Fuentes is unacceptable. I urge you to throw those bums out, disavow them and relegate them to the dustbin of history where they belong."
The Republican Jewish Coalition, which only a week ago hosted Trump at its annual event, condoned the get-together. Coalition head, Matt Brooks, tweeted strong criticism as well.
Until the Ye-Fuentes incident, Trump enjoyed 30% support from US Jewry, mostly from the Modern Orthodox community.
This group holds conservative positions and supports Israel. Based on this, community leaders even showed support for Trump, while he claims that many Jews in the US do not support him, even though he helped Israel.
But, even for them, legitimizing people such as Ye and Fuentes, crosses a red line. Trump has to convince his Jewish supporters that he understands the severity of his error. Otherwise, he might lose their political support.
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