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Trump comments directly on antisemites in the Republican party: ‘I think we don’t like them’
(JTA) — As tensions have risen in the Republican Party over antisemitism within the party, one voice has been notably absent.
Now, President Donald Trump, the party’s leader, has weighed in, indicating to The New York Times that he does not approve of antisemites in the party.
“No, I don’t. I think we don’t need them. I think we don’t like them,” replied Trump when asked by a reporter whether there was room within the Republican coalition for antisemitic figures.
Trump’s commentary on antisemitism within the GOP comes as many top Republican leaders, including Vice President JD Vance, have so far dismissed calls to draw a line against the mainstreaming of antisemitic figures, including Nick Fuentes, in the party.
When asked whether he condemned those with antisemitic views in the wide-ranging interview with the Times published Sunday, Trump replied, “Certainly.” The interview took place last week.
“Look, if you talk about the antisemitic views, there’s been nobody better for us. As an example, I just got the Israel award, which is the biggest award they give. It was just given to me. First time it was ever given to anybody outside of Israel,” continued Trump, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent announcement that he was nominated for the top Israeli civilian honor.
Trump then continued to say that there was “no better president in the history of the world” who has been “stronger or better and less antisemitic” than himself. (A May survey of Jewish American voters found that half believe that Trump is antisemitic.)
“I have been the best president of the United States in the history of this country toward Israel. And that’s, by the way, acknowledged by everybody, including the fact that we have peace in the Middle East, and that’s going to hold,” continued Trump.
Later in the interview, Trump was asked whether he would condemn Fuentes, whose interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson in October set off a firestorm within the party. After initially claiming that he didn’t know the antisemitic streamer, Trump acknowledged that he had had dinner with him alongside Kanye West in 2022.
“I had dinner with him, one time, where he came as a guest of Kanye West. I didn’t know who he was bringing,” Trump said. “He said, ‘Do you mind if I bring a friend?’ I said, ‘I don’t care.’ And it was Nick Fuentes? I don’t know Nick Fuentes.”
When asked whether he condemns Paul Ingrassia, a Trump administration official who was pulled from consideration to lead the Office of Special Counsel in October after texts surfaced in which he proclaimed he had a “Nazi Streak,” Trump replied, “I don’t know that. It’s possible. I have thousands of people working here.”
But when asked whether he thinks that Republican leaders should “condemn figures who espouse antisemitism,” Trump replied, “Absolutely.”
“Well, I’ll tell you what. From my own personal standpoint, absolutely, because I condemn,” said Trump. “I have a daughter who’s married to a Jewish person. My daughter happens to be Jewish, beautiful, three grandchildren are Jewish. I’m very proud of them. I’m very proud of the whole, that whole family. I am the least antisemitic person probably there is anywhere in the world.”
Trump also refuted a question by a Times reporter that his campaign against affirmative action and antisemitism on college campuses, which included multi-million dollar federal funding cuts, was invoked “to force change.”
“No, I cut funding to people and universities like Columbia, like Harvard,” said Trump. “We’re in the midst of that and others, as you know — you write about very well — where there’s tremendous discrimination against people that happen to be Jewish. We have — the antisemitism in this country is shocking.”
The post Trump comments directly on antisemites in the Republican party: ‘I think we don’t like them’ appeared first on The Forward.
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Tucker’s Ideas About Jews Come from Darkest Corners of the Internet, Says Huckabee After Combative Interview
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a combative interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson made a host of contentious and often demonstrably false claims that quickly went viral online. Huckabee, who repeatedly challenged the former Fox News star during the interview, subsequently made a long post on X, identifying a pattern of bad-faith arguments, distortions and conspiracies in Carlson’s rhetorical style.
Huckabee pointed out his words were not accorded by Carlson the same degree of attention and curiosity the anchor evinced toward such unsavory characters as “the little Nazi sympathizer Nick Fuentes or the guy who thought Hitler was the good guy and Churchill the bad guy.”
“What I wasn’t anticipating was a lengthy series of questions where he seemed to be insinuating that the Jews of today aren’t really same people as the Jews of the Bible,” Huckabee wrote, adding that Tucker’s obsession with conspiracies regarding the provenance of Ashkenazi Jews obscured the fact that most Israeli Jews were refugees from the Arab and Muslim world.
The idea that Ashkenazi Jews are an Asiatic tribe who invented a false ancestry “gained traction in the 80’s and 90’s with David Duke and other Klansmen and neo-Nazis,” Huckabee wrote. “It has really caught fire in recent years on the Internet and social media, mostly from some of the most overt antisemites and Jew haters you can find.”
Carlson branded Israel “probably the most violent country on earth” and cited the false claim that Israel President Isaac Herzog had visited the infamous island of the late, disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson said, citing a debunked claim made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger. “Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.”
Another misleading claim made by Carlson was that there were more Christians in Qatar than in Israel.
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Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure Amid US Nuclear Talks
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, in Tianjin, China, September 1, 2025. Iran’s Presidential website/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country would not bow its head to pressure from world powers amid nuclear talks with the United States.
“World powers are lining up to force us to bow our heads… but we will not bow our heads despite all the problems that they are creating for us,” Pezeshkian said in a speech carried live by state TV.
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Italy’s RAI Apologizes after Latest Gaffe Targets Israeli Bobsleigh Team
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Bobsleigh – 4-man Heat 1 – Cortina Sliding Centre, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – February 21, 2026. Adam Edelman of Israel, Menachem Chen of Israel, Uri Zisman of Israel, Omer Katz of Israel in action during Heat 1. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Italy’s state broadcaster RAI was forced to apologize to the Jewish community on Saturday after an off‑air remark advising its producers to “avoid” the Israeli crew was broadcast before coverage of the Four-Man bobsleigh event at the Winter Olympics.
The head of RAI’s sports division had already resigned earlier in the week after his error-ridden commentary at the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony two weeks ago triggered a revolt among its journalists.
On Saturday, viewers heard “Let’s avoid crew number 21, which is the Israeli one” and then “no, because …” before the sound was cut off.
RAI CEO Giampaolo Rossi said the incident represented a “serious” breach of the principles of impartiality, respect and inclusion that should guide the public broadcaster.
He added that RAI had opened an internal inquiry to swiftly determine any responsibility and any potential disciplinary procedures.
In a separate statement RAI’s board of directors condemned the remark as “unacceptable.”
The board apologized to the Jewish community, the athletes involved and all viewers who felt offended.
RAI is the country’s largest media organization and operates national television, radio and digital news services.
The union representing RAI journalists, Usigrai, had said Paolo Petrecca’s opening ceremony commentary had dealt “a serious blow” to the company’s credibility.
His missteps included misidentifying venues and public figures, and making comments about national teams that were widely criticized.