Donald Trump Allegedly 'Fawned' Over White Nationalist Nick Fuentes At Dinner Meeting With Kanye West
Nov. 26 2022, Published 12:35 p.m. ET
Former President Donald Trump allegedly hit it off with white nationalist political commentator Nick Fuentes while at a Mar-a-Lago business dinner with Kanye West on Tuesday, November 22.
The controversial politicians were believed to have met accidentally, as Trump expected the "Gold Digger" rapper to be the only one present at the dinner.
A source spilled that Trump "seemed very taken" with Fuentes, who is known for promoting anti-Semitic and racist conspiracy theories, and that he was amazed at Fuentes' extensive knowledge of his political career.
The source also claimed the duo discussed Trump's less hard hitting manner of campaigning compared to the 2016 election, with Fuentes telling him he preferred the embattled businessman to be "authentic" in the way he spoke.
"You like it better when I just speak off the cuff," the source recalled Trump had replied, paraphrasing the conversation, to which Fuentes admitted he did and that he was an "amazing" president when given full power to speak as he chose.
"There was a lot of fawning back and forth," the insider noted, adding that at one point, Trump told West he liked Fuentes because he "gets" him. "To be honest, I don't believe the president knew who the hell [Fuentes] was."
However, Trump appeared to distance himself from the meeting and rumors of a potential friendship with the white nationalist as the news hit headlines.
"Kanye West very much wanted to visit Mar-a-Lago," Trump addressed the get-together in a statement. "Our dinner meeting was intended to be Kanye and me only, but he arrived with a guest whom I had never met and knew nothing about."
Reps for Fuentes have also not confirmed whether or not he was at the dinner or what was discussed.
The executive director for the Republican Jewish Coalition, Matt Brooks, later slammed news of the meeting, telling CBS News, "We strongly condemn the virulent antisemitism of Kanye West and Nick Fuentes and call on all political leaders to reject their messages of hate and refuse to meet with him."
The source spoke with Axios about Trump and Fuentes' alleged conversation.