US Congress (Anadolu file photo)
WASHINGTON – A Republican senator said Tuesday that people advocating anti-Semitism should not be elected to government office.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel made the statement as he criticized former president Donald Trump for meeting with white supremacist and anti-Semitism advocate Nicholas Fuentes.
"There is simply no room in the Republican Party for anti-Semitism or white supremacy, and that would apply to all of the leaders in the party who will be seeking offices," McConnell said at a news conference.
When asked if he would back Trump in 2024, McConnell said, “Anyone meeting with people advocating that (anti-Semitic) point of view, in my judgment, are highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States.”
House of Representatives Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy also denounced the former president.
“I don’t think anybody should have a meeting with Nick Fuentes,” he said. "He has no place in this Republican Party.”
However, McCarthy claimed that Trump did not know who Fuentes was, adding that the former president “came out four times and condemned him.”
Trump on November 22 hosted Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West who has made openly anti-Semitic statements on social media, including threatening "death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE" in a tweet that prompted the suspension of his account, an action that was later reversed by Twitter new CEO Elon Musk.
Trump also hosted Fuentes, a Holocaust denier and vocal anti-Semite, at a dinner last week.
Trump has since said he did not know who Fuentes was at the time of their meeting but did not repudiate him. (Anadolu)
