Trump was ‘really impressed’ after meeting with Holocaust denier, Kanye claims
Rapper embroiled in antisemitism scandal brings Nick Fuentes to Mar-a-Lago sit-down with ex-US president, who lashes out at West for suggesting Trump be West’s running mate in 2024
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Kanye West brought notorious Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes to a meeting with Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago golf resort in Florida this week, and the rapper embroiled in an antisemitism scandal said the former president was “really impressed” by the white supremacist Fuentes.
The meeting took place on Tuesday, with West tweeting afterward that he plans to run for president in 2024 and that he asked Trump to be his running mate. The rapper, who has been embroiled in an antisemitism scandal, ran an unsuccessful bid for president in 2020 as well.
On Thursday, West posted a video in which he and his new campaign adviser, far-right activist Milo Yiannopoulos debriefed the Mar-a-Lago meeting. West can be heard saying that “Trump started basically screaming at the table telling me I was gonna lose.”
“I mean, has that ever worked for anyone in history? I’m like, ‘Wait, hold on Trump, you’re talking to Ye,’” the rapper continued, referring to himself in the third person.
However, West said Trump seemed more caught off guard by “the fact that I walked in with intelligence” — an apparent reference to Fuentes.
“Trump is really impressed with Nick Fuentes,” West went on to tell Yiannopoulos, adding that Fuentes was a “loyalist” along with those who stormed the Capitol on January 6.
#YE24 pic.twitter.com/DyIhMU5By6
— ye (@kanyewest) November 25, 2022
“My question [to Trump] would be, ‘Why when you had the chance did you not free the January 6-ers?” West continued. Trump’s office has yet to comment on the Tuesday meeting.
Fuentes — who has questioned the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust, and believes that Israel has a malicious influence on US policy — has been banned from several social media platforms.
He attended the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlotteville, Virginia and produces the “America First” podcast, which he has used to accumulate a large following known as the “Groyper Army.”
Fuentes was condemned earlier this year by the Republican Jewish Coalition, which said he “has actively spread antisemitic bile, mocked the Holocaust and promoted dangerous anti-Israel conspiracy theories.
On his way to meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago yesterday, Kanye West was filmed walking through Miami's airport with misogynistic antisemitic white nationalist Christian fascist incel Nick Fuentes. https://t.co/903Sa56Jb5 pic.twitter.com/Jn3bKtt9JE
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) November 23, 2022
Separately on Thursday, Adidas announced that it was investigating additional claims against Kanye West after a report detailed alleged inappropriate behavior, just weeks after the German sportswear giant ended its partnership with the rapper.
US magazine Rolling Stone reported claims that the rapper played pornography to Adidas staff in meetings, discussed porn and showed an intimate photo of ex-wife Kim Kardashian in job interviews.
It said former members of the team involved in Yeezy — the product line designed with the rapper — had released a letter alleging Adidas executives were aware of the behavior, which went on for years but turned a blind eye.
“It is currently not clear whether the accusations made in an anonymous letter are true,” Adidas said in a statement.
“However, we take these allegations very seriously and have taken the decision to launch an independent investigation of the matter immediately to address the allegations.”
Adidas began a review of its relationship with West after he appeared at a Paris fashion show wearing a shirt emblazoned with “White Lives Matter,” a slogan created as a backlash to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Days later he was locked out of Twitter and Instagram over antisemitic threats, which he later blamed on the “Jewish media.”
