Trump Met With a Bunch of Antisemites. Big Surprise.
Dylan Rainman (they/them)
On November 22nd, Donald Trump had an early Thanksgiving dinner at his Mar-a-Lago estate with rapper Ye. Apparently previously unbeknownst to Trump, Ye brought with him a man by the name of Nick Fuentes, a notable white supremacist, antisemite, and Holocaust-denier. This whole snafu has caused a lot of blowback for Trump, especially within the Republican Jewish community. Their reaction should have come about a while ago.
Trump has historically been very pro-Israel, which has led many conservative Jews to support him in the past. While I do not dispute that Trump is pro-Israel, I do not think that is enough to garner conservative Jewish support. Being on the side of the Jewish people and being on the side of Israel are two very different things. Israel is a very complicated topic that I struggle with a lot as a Jewish individual.
To be clear, I am glad this whole Nick Fuentes affair has happened because it has opened the eyes of many Jewish people to the reality of Trump. He does not look out for the Jewish people and has no issue supporting and surrounding himself with antisemites. For instance, after the Charlottesville protest in 2017 by Neo-Nazis and white supremacists, as well as counter-protestors, Trump stated that there were “very fine people on both sides.” Not only did he not condemn Neo-Nazis (who, for context, want to exterminate the Jewish people), but he called some of them “very fine people.” While this did cause some of his staff to resign and others came very close, many Jewish Republicans still supported him. Why could they not see then that Trump has no issue with Jewish hate?
Whatever the reason, at least now they can see the truth: Trump does not care about antisemitism. He had no reservations about meeting with Ye, who has lost many sponsorship deals amid a streak of antisemitic tweets that do not seem to stop. Does this not raise any flags? It took a literal Holocaust denier to get them to see that Trump’s pro-Israel policies do not outweigh the possible harms of his neglect of dealing with antisemitism. It is a relief that they have finally realized that a home for the Jewish people in Israel is a second priority to the possibility of the eradication of the Jewish people if Neo-Nazis win. I’m relieved it is finally clear to everyone that a man who likened himself to Hitler may not be the number one friend of the Jewish people.
Works Cited
Caputo, M. (2022, November 29). The Inside Story of Trump’s Explosive Dinner with Ye and
Nick Fuentes.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/story-trumps-explosive-dinner-ye-nick-f
Weisman, J. (2022, November 28). Jewish Allies Call Trump’s Dinner with Antisemites a
Breaking Point.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/us/politics/trump-kanye-west-nick-fuentes-antisem
