Republican criticism of Donald Trump

In the Republican Party, criticism of Donald Trump's dinner with far-right nationalist and anti-Semite Nick Fuentes is growing louder - and the ex-president immediately cuts back. Trump attacked Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a week after the highly controversial dinner at his Mar-a-lago estate. McConnell, who was recently confirmed in office, was "a failure for our country and for the Republican Party," Trump said, according to a Fox News Digital report.

Trump welcomed successful rapper and entrepreneur Ye – formerly known as Kanye West – and Fuentes last week. After initial criticism, the ex-president denied knowing his supporter Fuentes before the meeting.

McConnell broke his days-long silence on the incident on Tuesday. During a press conference in the Capitol, he indirectly addressed the dinner in Mar-a-lago without naming Trump. "There is no place for anti-Semitism or white supremacy in the Republican Party," McConnell said. He then fired a poisoned verbal arrow at Trump, who announced two weeks ago that he would run again for the presidency in 2024.

He said, "And anyone who meets with people who take that point of view, I think most likely they'll never be elected President of the United States." would support races. The relationship between the two men is considered broken.

Trump reiterated Tuesday that he had "never heard of Nick Fuentes" prior to the dinner at his premises. He had "had no idea what views he represented". It was a very short dinner. Trump said of Ye, who was also criticized for making anti-Semitic statements, that he "asked him for advice." Trump also said he had "heard that Kanye is having difficulties, including financial ones."

Kevin McCarthy, who leads the Republicans in the House of Representatives, also voiced tentative indirect criticism of Trump's meeting with Fuentes. “I condemn his ideology; she has no place in society," McCarthy said of Fuentes. "The president can meet whoever he wants, but I don't think anyone should have a meeting with Nick Fuentes," McCarthy later said.

He repeated Trump's claim that he didn't know who Fuentes was. Asked if it was appropriate for Trump to have dinner with West given the anti-Semitic comments, McCarthy said, "I don't think those comments are accurate and I don't think he should have anything to do with them."

Trump has repeatedly claimed in the past that he has no extremists among his supporters. For example, he held it with David Duke, the former leader of the racist Ku Klux Klan, or the extreme right-wing militia "Proud Boys". Trump has repeatedly contradicted the fact that a pro-Trump mob had violently entered the Capitol in 2021.

Fuentes also took part in that demonstration in front of the Capitol. He also attended a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. It was only in February that Fuentes invited to a meeting of white racists, which was also attended by far-right MP and Trump admirer Marjorie Taylor Greene. McCarthy then reprimanded Greene's presence.

In dealing with Trump, McCarthy has been lenient except for a period of several hours after January 6, 2021. Shortly after the storming of the Capitol, he traveled to Trump's Mar-a-lago residence; this was understood as a penance for an interim criticism of Trump's behavior.

McCarthy wants to be elected Speaker of the House of Representatives in just over a month. Since the Republican majority here is wafer-thin, he's dependent on Trump supporters' votes. Almost all Republicans find it difficult to openly criticize Trump for fear of alienating his hard-line supporters.

The anti-Semite and racist Fuentes increases his notoriety through his meeting with Trump. Fuentes, who grew up in the state of Illinois, has long been a star of the far right in the United States. He gained popularity in this milieu after racially abusing black people. He once judged the Republican Party to be "led by Jews, atheists and homosexuals."

Fuentes, who describes himself as a "misogynist", believes it would be better if women weren't allowed to vote. According to The New York Times, he compared himself to Hitler and hoped for a "total Aryan victory." He praised the earlier racial segregation in the southern states.