Republicans furious after Trump dines with Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes

It seems like a casual dining experience shared between former US President Donald Trump, singer-rapper Kanye West, and far-right activist Nick Fuentes did not sit right with a number of Republicans. Trump, who dined with the duo at his Mar-a-Lago estate, has become the center of criticism, garnering disapproval from many Republicans including erstwhile US vice president Mike Pence. 

Pence slammed the former president for his "profoundly poor judgement" which led him to dine with Fuentes, a nationalist who denies the Holocaust, and West, who has blatantly put out antisemitic tweets in the recent past. In a conversation with NewsNation on Monday, Pence said: "President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an antisemite and Holocaust denier, a seat at the table, and I think he should apologise for it.”

"And he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric, without qualification,” the former VP added, while clarifying that Trump is neither racist nor antisemitic, because if he was, Pence wouldn’t have served under him. Trump’s controversial dinner was also condemned by other GOP lawmakers including Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy, who called the act “immoral.”

"President Trump hosting racist antisemites for dinner encourages other racist antisemites. These attitudes are immoral and should not be entertained,” Cassidy said. Florida senator Rick Scott added,  "There's no room for antisemitism or white supremacy in the Republican Party. Period."

GOP lawmakers criticize Trump for meeting West and Fuentes

Trump also garnered criticism from his long-time ally Lindsey Graham. "Yeah, the meeting was bad. He shouldn't have done it,” said Graham, who is the senator of South Carolina. However, he went on to say that the act will not impact Trump’s political trajectory. “There's a double standard about this kind of stuff and I don't think it will matter in terms of his political future,” the senator said. 

Meanwhile, Missouri senator Josh Hawley took a diplomatic stance and said that Trump could "have dinner with whomever he wants to have dinner with,” but he would personally refrain from dining with Fuentes. The recent backlash comes as the Republican party seems to grow tired of Trump and has credited him for the party's poor performance in the midterm elections. Nonetheless, Trump seems to pay no heed and continues to envision running for president in 2024.