Nick Fuentes (center) with Alex Jones at a \"Stop the Steal\" rally in Georgia on Nov. 19, 2020. Photo: Zach Roberts\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Former President Trump dined and conversed with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Tuesday night, according to two sources familiar with the matter. <\/p>\n
Why it matters: Trump's direct engagement with a man labeled a \"white supremacist\" by the Justice Department, one week after declaring his 2024 candidacy, is likely to draw renewed outrage over the former president's embrace of extremists.<\/p>\n
What they're saying: \"Kanye West very much wanted to visit Mar-a-Lago. 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,\" Trump said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Bigotry, hate, and antisemitism have absolutely no place in America - including at Mar-A-Lago,\" White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said Saturday in a statement.<\/p>\n
Behind the scenes: A source familiar with the dinner conversation told Axios that Trump \"seemed very taken\" with Fuentes, impressed that the 24-year-old was able to rattle off statistics and recall speeches dating back to his 2016 campaign.<\/p>\n
Fuentes told Trump that he represented a side of Trump's base that was disappointed with his newly cautious approach, especially with what some far-right activists view as a lack of support for those charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.<\/p>\n
Trump at one point turned to Ye and said, \"I really like this guy. He gets me,\" according to the source. <\/p>\n
Trump asked if Fuentes was on social media such as Truth Social, the former president's alternative to Twitter.<\/p>\n
Driving the news: Ye, whose Twitter account was recently restored after being restricted for anti-Semitic comments, posted a video on Thursday night titled \"Mar-a-Lago debrief.\"<\/p>\n
Between the lines: The Daily Beast reported Wednesday that Fuentes was not present at the Mar-a-Lago dinner with Ye, citing a source familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n
Flashback: Truth Social, Trump's social media platform, sparked backlash by verifying Fuentes' account in February.<\/p>\n
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting and a statement from Trump and the White House.<\/p>\n
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Trump talks with white nationalist Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago dinner<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nick Fuentes (center) with Alex Jones at a \"Stop the Steal\" rally in Georgia on Nov. 19, 2020 Continue reading