Kanye West wasted no time in promoting his 2024 run for president as he was spotted rocking “Ye24″ gear while visiting a church in Los Angeles on Saturday, Nov. 26. The “Famous” rapper, who lost billions after businesses cut ties with him for making antisemitic remarks, donned a black, orange and white wind breaker with the hood up as he kept a dour look on his face arriving at the church.
The outing comes only a few days after Kanye was condemned for his visit to Mar-A-Lago on Tuesday, where he dined with far-right activist Nick Fuentes and Donald Trump. While Kim Kardashian’s ex made headlines for asking Trump to be his running mate at the gathering, which he revealed in a tweet, it was the company he kept with Fuentes that drew the most criticism for both himself and for the former President.
“We strongly condemn the virulent antisemitism of Kanye West and Nick Fuentes and call on all political leaders to reject their messages of hate and refuse to meet with them,” Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, told The Washington Post on Friday.
Even some of Trump’s usual allies spoke out against the meeting. David M. Friedman, who served as Trump’s ambassador to Israel, did not hold back when he slammed his former boss, tweeting that the 45th president was “better than this.” He added, “Even a social visit from an antisemite like Kanye West and human scum like Nick Fuentes is unacceptable. I urge you to throw those bums out, disavow them and relegate them to the dustbin of history where they belong.”
Former New Jersey Chris Christie, who has been in Trump’s corner quite a bit, went so far to tell The New York Times that it was “another example of an awful lack of judgment from Donald Trump, which, combined with his past poor judgments, make him an untenable general election candidate for the Republican Party in 2024.”
Trump denied knowing Fuentes and said that he was not aware Kanye had invited the Holocaust denier along. “This past week, Kanye West called me to have dinner at Mar-a-Lago,” the Trump posted on Truth Social, according to The Washington Post. “Shortly thereafter, he unexpectedly showed up with three of his friends, whom I knew nothing about.” Kanye has yet to respond to the criticism.
Fuentes, who has been banned on all major social media platforms, has a history of controversial comments, including his skepticism about the Holocaust, which can be seen here. On his YouTube show called “America First,” Fuentes described Jewish people as “a hostile tribal elite” and called the state of Israel “the anti-Christ,” per Newsweek. The outlet also reported that Fuentes took to the Telegram app earlier this month to say, “Jews have too much power in our society. Christians should have all the power, everyone else very little.”
Meanwhile, Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, joined in the call of condemnation. “For Donald Trump to dine with notorious white supremacists and unrepentant bigots, I think at a minimum it’s clarifying. He is trying to make America hate again and running arguably the most unapologetic white nationalist presidential campaign we’ve ever seen,” he told CNN.
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