众议院共和党领袖凯文·麦卡锡，可能的下一任众议院议长，为前总统辩护唐纳德·特朗普周二，特朗普在他的Mar-a-Lago度假村与白人民族主义者尼克·富恩特斯和说唱歌手叶共进晚餐一周后坎耶·维斯特他发表了反犹太主义的言论。
“我认为任何人都不应该和尼克·富恩特斯在一起，”麦卡锡在会见总统后告诉ABC新闻首席白宫记者玛丽·布鲁斯乔·拜登和其他国会领导人。
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks to the media on the bill to protect same sex marriage at the Capitol, Nov. 29, 2022.
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA via Shutterstock
“他在共和党中没有位置。我认为特朗普总统四次出来谴责他，但不知道他是谁，”麦卡锡说，尽管没有证据表明特朗普谴责了富恩特斯。
参议院共和党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)周二比麦卡锡走得更远，他谴责特朗普与富恩特斯的会面，在每周新闻发布会上不仅拒绝“反犹太主义”和“白人至上”，还表示特朗普与这些意识形态的关联可能会让他无法在白宫赢得第二个任期。
“共和党内没有反犹太主义或白人至上的空间，”麦康奈尔说，他站在共和党参议院领导层的两侧。“以我的判断，任何与主张这种观点的人会面的人，都极不可能当选美国总统。”
麦卡锡是特朗普的立法盟友，而麦康奈尔多次与前总统决裂，包括在1月6日的叛乱中批评他。共和党领导人的评论是在其他一些高调的共和党人之后发表的被责难的特朗普坚持的是即兴餐。
在华盛顿之外，特朗普面临前副总统的批评以及2024年初选的潜在对手迈克·彭斯。
彭斯在接受采访时说:“特朗普总统错误地给了一名白人民族主义者、一名反犹太人和一名大屠杀否认者一个席位，我认为他应该道歉。”
尽管如此，彭斯说，“我不相信唐纳德·特朗普是反犹太主义者。我不相信他是种族主义者或偏执狂。”
富恩特斯(Fuentes)是一名白人民族主义者，他发表了种族主义、性别歧视和反犹太主义的评论，已被禁止出现在所有主要的社交媒体平台上。叶最近因为自己的反犹言论丢掉了几笔大生意。
特朗普表示，当富恩特斯来到Mar-a-Lago时，他不知道富恩特斯是谁，最初他在周五的社交媒体平台上发布了这次会面，声称他不知道叶会带其他客人，但没有提到富恩特斯。
在后来的声明中，他说他只是想与叶见面，这位说唱歌手在他不知情的情况下带富恩特斯参加了两个小时的晚宴。
“嗯，我谴责这种意识形态。它在社会上没有一席之地，”麦卡锡说，当美国广播公司的布鲁斯问及特朗普对白人民族主义者富恩特斯缺乏评论时。
“总统不知道他是谁，”麦卡锡重复道。“所以，他知道坎耶西是谁。他不知道富恩特斯是谁。”
后来被问及特朗普会见韦斯特是否合适时，麦卡锡说，“总统会见了他想会见的人。不过，我认为任何人都不应该和尼克·富恩特斯见面...我认为坎耶·韦斯特…我认为我们也不应该和他们交往。我很清楚自己的立场。”
麦卡锡上周获得了共和党下届国会议长提名，击退了亚利桑那州众议员安迪·比格斯的挑战，因为共和党将在下一届会议中重新获得众议院多数席位。
McConnell casts doubt on Trump getting elected after dinner with white nationalist
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, the likely next House speaker, defended former PresidentDonald Trumpon Tuesday, a week after Trump dined at his Mar-a-Lago resort with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and rapper Ye, formerly known asKanye West, who has made antisemitic remarks.
"I don't think anybody should be spending any time with Nick Fuentes," McCarthy told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce after meeting with PresidentJoe Bidenand other congressional leaders.
"He has no place in this Republican Party. I think President Trump came out four times and condemned him and didn't know who he was," McCarthy said, although there is no evidence Trump condemned Fuentes.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday went further than McCarthy, condemning Trump's meeting with Fuentes, opening his weekly press conference by rejecting not only "antisemitism" and "white supremacy" but saying Trump's association with the ideologies could keep him from winning a second term in the White House.
"There is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy," McConnell said, flanked by Republican Senate leadership. "And anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view, in my judgment, are highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States."
McCarthy is a legislative ally of Trump's while McConnell has broken with the former president a number of times, including criticizing him over the Jan. 6 insurrection. The GOP leaders' comments came after a number of other high-profile Republicanscondemnedwhat Trump has insisted was an impromptu meal.
Beyond Washington,Trump faced criticism from his former vice presidentand potential 2024 primary opponent, Mike Pence.
"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 told NewsNation in an interview.
Still, Pence said, "I don't believe Donald Trump is an antisemite. I don't believe he's a racist or a bigot."
Fuentes, a white nationalist who has made racist, sexist and antisemitic comments, has been banned on all major social media platforms. Ye recently lost major business deals over his own antisemitic comments.
Trump has said he did not know who Fuentes was when Fuentes came to Mar-a-Lago, initially posting about the meeting on his social media platform on Friday, claiming he didn't know Ye would be bringing other guests, but not mentioning Fuentes.
In later statements, he said that he only sought to meet with Ye and that the rapper brought Fuentes to the two-hour dinner without his knowledge.
"Well, I condemn this ideology. It has no place in society," McCarthy said, when pressed by ABC's Bruce about Trump's lack of comment on the white nationalist Fuentes.
"The president didn't know who he was," McCarthy repeated. "So, he knew who Kanye West is. He didn't know who Fuentes is."
Asked later if it was appropriate for or Trump to meet with West, McCarthy said "the president has meetings with who he wants. I don't think anybody, though, should have a meeting with Nick Fuentes ... I think Kanye West…I don't think we should associate with them, as well. I'm very clear in my position."
McCarthy last week clinched the Republican nomination for speaker in the next Congress, fending off a challenge from Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs as the GOP will regain the House majority next session.
