Former President Donald Trump announces a third run for president at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Nov. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
PA
Speaking at a conference of Orthodox Jews on Friday, Donald Trump did not mention a widely criticized private meal he shared last month with a white nationalist who denies the Holocaust and a rapper who has said he “loves Nazis.”
The former president told the audience that he was “the best ally they’ve ever had.”
Time and again, Trump praised the Jewish people and highlighted his support for Israel during the President’s Annual Umesorah Torah Conference held at the National Doral club in Miami, which belongs to Trump. He claimed that Congress was “almost anti-Israel” and said without evidence that some Democrats in Washington “hate Israel with a passion.”
Trump is looking to build political momentum a month after becoming the first official candidate to enter the 2024 presidential race. He had hoped the early announcement might scare off potential challengers, but a series of political setbacks have left him deeply vulnerable as He is advancing in his third presidential campaign.
The 76-year-old Republican faced heavy criticism from within his own party late last month after dining with Holocaust-denying white supremacist Nick Fuentes and rapper formerly known as Kanye West. Shortly after the meeting, West, now known as Ye, said: “I love the Jews, but I also love the Nazis.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence called on Trump to apologize for the meeting, saying the former president had “displayed profoundly poor judgment.”
Trump at the time said he was unaware of the opinions of his dinner guests.
On Friday, Trump ignored the episode entirely.
Source: El Nuevo Herald
