Former Vice-President Mike Pence said Donald Trump was “wrong” and should “apologize” for hosting white nationalist Nick Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago club for dinner last week.
“President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an antisemite and a Holocaust denier a seat at the table, and I think he should apologize,” Pence said, according to the Hill.
Pence said the former president demonstrated “profoundly poor judgment” in hosting Fuentes at his club, but said he doesn’t believe that Trump is an antisemite.
“I don’t believe Donald Trump is an antisemite,” he said. “I don’t believe he’s a racist or a bigot. I would not have been his vice president if he was.”
Pence is the most recent of a handful of Republicans to call out Donald Trump for dining with Fuentes and controversial rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, at his club last week.
The White House also condemned the dinner again on Monday.
“This is something that’s important that we speak very clear about, and we speak very, very forcefully about. This administration, this president totally rejects bigotry, racism, antisemitism, and there is just no place for these types of vile forces in our society,” White House press secretary Jean-Pierre said.
“When you do not speak out against these type of poisonous and dangerous kind of remarks or representation, if you will, that is also incredibly dangerous within itself,” Jean-Pierre added. “We should all be condemning this, and we should be very clear, very clear and say it in really absolute clear terms. And again, this is something that we condemn, and we will continue to speak out against.”
Trump has tried to distance himself from Ye and Fuentes after the dinner but stopped short of denouncing them.
