Donald Trump was recently asked by the press about what he thinks about political commentator Tucker Carlson’s latest interview on controversial streamer Nick Fuentes, and Trump defended Carlson because the podcaster has “said good things about me over the years.”
For the people who don’t know who Fuentes is — lucky you. He’s a 27 year old political streamer with far right views. But before you think he’s just a natural counter-weight to figures like Hasan Piker, think again. Fuentes often goes viral on Instagram and X saying heinous things about the Jewish community and proudly using slurs to describe black people. He does inject some actual political commentary in his streams, but how he talks about minorities betrays a hateful rhetoric that should immediately disqualify him for serious conversations about nation building.
Yet, slowly, the guardrails of X have been removed and figures like Candace Owens oscillate between making outrageous claims about the French first lady, Brigitte Macron, and having people like Fuentes on her platform — hence his notoriety slowly grew. And not for nothing, Trump has also expressed that he doesn’t necessarily consider far right views as being dangerous. For the president, they’re extremists who only want the best for the nation and don’t want to use any violence, even though the statistics say otherwise.
According to PBS, when Trump was asked about Carlson’s interview, he said, “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. People have to decide. Meeting people, talking to people for somebody like Tucker — that’s what they do. You know, people are controversial. I’m not controversial, so I like it that way.” Of course, this was a bit of an odd statement considering he was also photographed having dinner with Fuentes some years back.
Trump was asked about that, and he said that he was actually introduced to Fuentes by Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. According to Trump, it was Ye who he invited to Mar-A-Lago, but the musician came with an entourage that included Fuentes. This doesn’t necessarily help because it’s not like Ye himself doesn’t have a disturbing recent past with vile antisemitism.
Trump’s ties to these fringe figures continue to disturb even people in the Republican circle. Former Vice President Mike Pence called out Trump for having dinner with Nick Fuentes, calling him a white nationalist and a Holocaust denier. The Heritage Foundation, which prides itself as a think tank for the president, also heavily criticized Carlson for having Fuentes on.
Nick Fuentes would probably be the first person to tell you point blank he is a racist antisemite. It doesn’t seem like a position he has any shame about. Which is certainly not illegal — you can say and think however you want if you don’t harm someone. That’s his constitutional right.
What makes Trump’s dismissal of Fuentes’ very concerning statements all the more disturbing is he has been running a months-long onslaught over universities across the country that he considered shielding antisemites for condoning protests against the Gaza War on campus. The fact that he has no issue with someone actually platforming a proud antisemite suggests his issue was never with whoever despises the Jewish community but rather who disagrees with the Trump administration.
