Trump fires back at ‘loser’ McConnell, says Fuentes’ views ‘would not have been accepted’ if raised at dinner

EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump hit back at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, calling him a ‘loser for our nation and for the Republican Party,’ while telling Fox News Digital he didn’t know the nationalist. white Nick Fuentes, and that he had expressed his views during their « very quick dinner », he « would not have been accepted ».

McConnell, R-Ky., on Tuesday condemned Trump for his dinner last week with Kanye West and Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago, saying Trump is unlikely to win re-election in 2024 because of the event.

“There is no place in the Republican Party for anti-Semitism or white supremacy. And anyone who meets people holding that view, in my opinion, has a very slim chance of being elected president of the United States. United, » McConnell said.

When asked to respond to McConnell’s comments, Trump criticized the Senate GOP leader.

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« Mitch is a loser for our nation and for the Republican Party who would not have won re-election in Kentucky without my approval, which he begged me to do because he was falling, » Trump said. « His well-funded opponent had $93 million ready to spend when I took him from 2 points to 21 points in a matter of days. »

A representative for McConnell did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Trump’s statements.

Regarding the highly controversial dinner at Mar-a-Lago last week, Trump pointed out that he « never heard of Nick Fuentes. »

« I had never heard of this man. I had no idea what his opinions were and they weren’t expressed at the table during our very quick dinner, otherwise it wouldn’t have been accepted, » said Trump.

Fuentes, a white nationalist, has a history of making racist remarks and engaging in Holocaust revisionism, although he has claimed he does not deny the Holocaust. As for Ye, who has also come under fire for anti-Semitic remarks, Trump said he « asked to see me for advice, » saying he had « heard that Kanye was having difficulties, including financial difficulties ».

Kanye West, aka Ye, wore a Balenciaga boxing mouth guard, in front of Givenchy, during Paris Fashion Week – Womenswear Spring/Summer 2023 in October.
(Edouard Berthelot)

« He asked me to meet him, » Trump said.

« If you see it, fake news media will create a problem, » Trump said. « If you don’t see it, fake media will claim I’m a racist. »

« The meeting was uneventful, » Trump continued, noting that when it comes to white supremacy, it’s « normal for the media » to blame him.

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« They know it’s not true, » he said.

The former president, who announced his 2024 presidential campaign earlier this month, told Fox News Digital that « there is no one who has proven to be more of a friend to Israel than Donald Trump. « .

« No one has to prove or be defensive about me and Israel, » Trump told Fox News Digital. « They recognized that I am Israel’s best friend and president. »

« I gave them the embassy in Jerusalem, » Trump said, referring to the Trump administration’s 2018 relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – a relocation long debated in Washington – and which showed that the United States officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

« From the historic Abraham Accords bringing peace to the Middle East, the withdrawal of the disastrous Iranian nuclear deal, the appointment of a special envoy to combat the scourge of anti-Semitism, the relocation of the American embassy to Jerusalem and recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, President Trump has always been, and continues to be, the closest friend and ally of the Jewish people and the State of Israel,” a statement said. adviser to Trump at Fox News Digital.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Tuesday also criticized the meeting.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Tuesday also criticized the meeting.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

« I don’t think anybody should be spending time with Nick Fuentes, » McCarthy told media at the White House on Tuesday after a meeting with President Biden. « He has no place in this Republican Party. »

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McCarthy, however, apparently defended Trump, saying he had come out « four times and condemned » Fuentes, adding that he « didn’t know who he was. »

When pressed further on Fuentes, McCarthy said, « I condemn his ideology. It has no place in society. »

Last week, Ye posted a video saying Trump was « really impressed » by Fuentes, whom he described as a « loyalist », and that the artist caught Trump off guard by asking him to be his vice -President.

« I think the thing Trump was most disturbed about [was] me asking him to be my vice president,” Ye said in the video. “I think that was lower on the list of things that caught him off guard.”

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Fuentes, meanwhile, said in his show the dinner was « very interesting » and said he didn’t think Trump knew who he was.

« I don’t think he knew I was me at dinner, let’s put it that way, » he said. « I don’t know if I’m going to say he didn’t know me…I’m not sure, but he certainly didn’t know I was me when I came to dinner, and I didn’t know means that my statements and my whole background kind of become a public relations problem for the president. »

Meanwhile, Trump told Fox News Digital that Democrats should « condemn Antifa. »

« You don’t see people condemning Antifa — they destroyed Portland, what they did in Minneapolis, look at that, » Trump said. « Why don’t people condemn Antifa? »