Former President Donald Trump will meet on Friday with an Orthodox Jewish educational group following heavy criticism of dinner with Ye — formerly known as Kanye West — and Nick Fuentes and repeated antisemetic remarks.
Mr Trump, who announced another presidential run last month, had dinner with Ye and white supremacist Mr Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago over the week of Thanksgiving.
Mr Trump’s decision to host the two men was swiftly condemned by a range of observers, including longtime allies in the Jewish community. Mr Trump said that he did not know who Mr Fuentes was, but declined to apologise for hosting the pair and instead attacked Jewish leaders for being insufficently loyal to him.
The former president also defended Ye, who praised Adolf Hitler in an appearance on Alex Jones’ InfoWars show.
“You can’t say out loud that this person ever did anything good and I am done with that,” Ye said on the programme. “I am done with the classifications. Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler.”
Now, on Friday, Mr Trump will give a speech before the President’s Conference of Torah Umesorah at his golf club in Miami. The speech will be part of a days-long gathering put on by the organisation that promotes religious education and Jewish day schools.
Mr Trump has had close ties to the Orthodox Jewish community, which is significantly more conservative than the left-leaning American Jewish community as a whole. He has also had strong relationships with right-wing politicians in Israel, though incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Mr Trump to apologise for hosting Ye and Fuentes.
“On this matter, on Kanye West and that other unacceptable guest, I think it’s not merely unacceptable it’s just wrong,” Mr Netanyahu said on Meet the Press. “And I hope he sees his way to staying out of it and condemning it.”
But Mr Trump has long trafficked in antisemitic tropes, including accusing American Jews of disloyalty to the United States and complaining that they have not been sufficently grateful to him for his support of Israeli nationalism. Incidences of antisemitism have increased significantly in the US since Mr Trump was elected president in 2016.
His once-close relationship with Mr Netanyahu seems to have deteriorated since Mr Trump left the White House, with Axios reporting that Mr Trump lashed out at the far right Israeli leader after he congratulated President Joe Biden on his election win.
“I haven’t spoken to him since,” Mr Trump reportedly said of Mr Netanyahu. “F*** him.”
