Trump Ignored Pleas to Condemn White Supremacist Fuentes, Insiders Say

Donald Trump repeatedly refused to listen to advisers encouraging him to condemn white supremacist Nick Fuentes after the former president hosted the antisemite at Mar-a-Lago, according to a report. Insiders told the Guardian that Trump rebuffed the advice because he was worried about alienating part of his base. Instead, Trump made three statements on Friday about the dinner—also attended by Kanye West—and took to his Truth Social platform to say that he “didn’t know Nick Fuentes” and claim that West “expressed no antisemitism.” Fuentes has previously made comments denying the Holocaust and attended the white nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017. He praised Trump’s comments in the wake of the demonstration, where counter-protester Heather Heyer was killed by a white supremacist.