Former US President Donald Trump said he enjoyed rapper Kanye West’s recent sit-down interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, despite the antisemitic comments made by West during the interview, The Hill reported.
West, who now calls himself Ye, said during the interview that the Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain were signed because former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who is also Trump’s son-in-law, wanted to "make money" from the deal.
He later threatened to go "death con 3 on the Jews" in an apparent antisemitic Twitter rant. Ye followed this up by claiming that he can't be antisemitic "because black people are actually Jew."
The comments were condemned by a host of public figures. Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the comments and said, “Antisemitism is the longest hatred in history. It goes back thousands of years. We’ve dealt with bigger problems than these stupidities.”
“The communists blamed the Jews for being capitalists. The capitalists blamed the Jews for being communists. You have a problem, blame the Jews. It is old stuff, it shouldn’t have a place in civilized discourse,” Netanyahu added.
“That is the reason we established the Jewish state, so that the Jewish people would have defense against these absurdities – and sometimes they’re coupled with violence. We won’t let that happen again.”
Trump was pressed by radio host Larry O’Connor about the antisemitic comments from Ye.
“He’s been saying some really offensive things lately about your own son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and about Jewish people, Jewish Americans writ large. Could you react to that? Because is this the guy that you knew?” the radio host asked Trump, according to The Hill.
“Well, I haven’t really seen the statements he’s made. I did watch the Tucker Carlson interview and he was really nice to me. Beyond anybody, he was … he was great to me, and to the MAGA movement, which was really impressive,” the former president said in response.
Trump’s comments come after he himself was criticized for asserting that American Jews do not appreciate what he has done for Israel.
“No President has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S.,” he wrote in his Truth Social app on Sunday.
“Those living in Israel, though, are a different story - Highest approval rating in the World, could easily be P.M.! U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel - Before it is too late!” added Trump.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later responded to Trump and said, "Donald Trump’s comments were antisemitic and insulting, both to Jews and our Israeli allies. We need to root out antisemitism everywhere it rears its ugly head. We need to call this out."
"For years, Donald Trump has aligned with extremist and antisemitic figures," she added. "With respect to Israel, our relationship is iron-clad, and it's rooted in shared values and interests. Donald Trump clearly doesn't understand that either."