WASHINGTON — Many of Donald Trump’s potential 2024 rivals and some top Republicans have fallen silent on the former president’s dinner with a notorious white supremacist, illustrating the party’s continuing struggle to escape his grasp.
Trump’s impromptu dinner with Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago last week has drawn condemnation from only a handful of Republicans, while most sidestepped the matter or said nothing. Those silent so far include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the chamber’s likely next speaker.
Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who is rumored to be weighing a 2024 bid, told The New York Times it showed an “awful lack of judgment” by Trump that, when combined with other transgressions, makes him an “untenable general election candidate for the Republican Party in 2024.”
