President Donald Trump on Sunday defended Tucker Carlson’s decision to interview white nationalist Nick Fuentes, saying it’s not his place to tell the conservative commentator whom he can or cannot platform — even as Fuentes’ history of racist and antisemitic statements continues to roil Republicans.
Speaking to reporters on the tarmac in West Palm Beach before returning to Washington, Trump brushed off concerns about Carlson elevating one of the most notorious extremist figures on the right.
“I found him to be good,” Trump said of Carlson. “He said good things about me over the years… we’ve had some great interviews.”
Asked directly whether Carlson should have interviewed Fuentes, Trump did not object.
“If he wants to interview Nick Fuentes — I don’t know much about him — but if he wants to do it, get the word out. Let him,” Trump said. “People have to decide. Ultimately, people have to decide.”
Carlson’s interview with Fuentes drew immediate backlash inside the GOP, which has spent years trying — and often failing — to distance itself from Fuentes, who has praised Hitler, trafficked in Holocaust denial, and repeatedly made antisemitic slurs.
Reporters also pressed Trump about his infamous 2022 dinner with Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago. Trump reiterated that the Holocaust-denying activist arrived as a guest of Kanye West.
“I didn’t know Nick at the time,” Trump said. “He came along with a few other people. [West] brought a few people with him… people are controversial. Some are, some aren’t. I’m not controversial.”
Fuentes’ proximity to the GOP’s most influential voices — and Trump’s continued reluctance to condemn him outright — is once again fueling concerns about extremism creeping into the conservative mainstream.
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6 Responses
אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל
Fake News. He was hardly “defending” Carlson. Why do we keep falling for the media’s twisted reports? The sky seems to always be falling for some people. Next they will trot out all of the “Jewish” organization heads (do they speak for the Frum?) bashing Trump for being antisemitic (based not on what was said but on the fake headlines. Does anyone remember not too long ago, when a non religious Jewish actress, Ms. Barr, sarcastically made very antisemitic statements (in another person’s name yet!) and the media printed it up and requested comments on it as if she had said them herself. Unbelievable!
Trump is a great president. The best one yet for Jews. He’s not stupid, he knows that we’ll support him, and he knows that if he fights Tucker and Nick the right party will be split. He’s handling it perfectly. Besides… history has taught us to never rely on the government to protect us against hate.
Perhaps maybe when we’ll stop being obsessed with identifying antisemitism, they’ll find other people to hunt…
Trump never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. אַ געמייַנער וואַנץ
The President is right, and the headline is misleading.
He didn’t defend the actual interview; he defended having him on as a guest. The problem is how the interview went, not whom he interviewed.
Talk about Trump derangement syndrome. Because people voted for him and they were so convinced he was right they can’t criticize him reasonably for having a well-known Nazi and having a very friendly interview with no disagreement. Trump is complementing that? This is good. He’s a great president. The media is distorting it? Trump derangement syndrome.