Mike Pence says Trump must apologize for dinner with white supremacist Nick Fuentes
Pence clarified that he doesn't think Trump is an antisemite
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Vice President Mike Pence called on former President Donald Trump to apologize for having dinner with white supremacist Nick Fuentes on Tuesday.
Pence had previously held off from attacking Trump for the dinner this weekend, and even now clarified that he does not believe Trump is an antisemite. Pence made the statement during a Monday night appearance on NewsNation, saying Trump had displayed "profoundly poor judgment."
"President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an antisemite and Holocaust denier, a seat at the table and I think he should apologize for it," Pence said. "And he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"With that being said, as I point out in the book as well, I don’t believe Donald Trump is an antisemite. I don’t believe he’s a racist or a bigot. I would not have been his vice president if he was," Pence clarified, adding that Trump's grandchildren are Jewish.
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Donald Trump and Mike Pence pose together on a stage. (Getty Images)
Nick Fuentes, Alex Jones, Ali Alexander during a rally. (Photo by Zach Roberts/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (Zach Roberts/Getty Images)
Pence went on to say that the media coverage of Trump's dinner with Fuentes and Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, was unfair.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"But I think the president demonstrated profoundly poor judgment in giving those individuals a seat at the table and as I said, I think he should apologize for it. He should denounce them without qualification," he concluded.
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Pence has shown more willingness than ever to criticize his former running mate in recent weeks. Pence finally lambasted Trump for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, earlier this month, saying the former president "endangered" his family.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The president’s words that day at the rally endangered me and my family and everyone at the Capitol building," Pence told ABC News. "The president’s words were reckless, and his actions were reckless. It was clear he decided to be part of the problem."
Former Vice President Mike Pence delivers a speech at The Heritage Foundation titled The Freedom Agenda and America's Future, in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, October 19, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
This exhibit from video released by the House Select Committee, shows a photo of Vice President Mike Pence talking on the phone from his secure loading dock location, displayed at a hearing by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, July 21, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (House Select Committee via AP)
Trump targeted Pence during the riot with a tweet claiming he didn't have "the courage" to refuse to certify President Biden's 2020 election victory, something Pence lacked the legal authority to do.
"I turned to my daughter, who was standing nearby, and I said, 'It doesn't take courage to break the law. It takes courage to uphold the law,'" he told interviewer David Muir.
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Pence's recent willingness to open up coincides with the release of his memoir, "So Help Me God," earlier this month.
Pence is among the likely candidates to challenge Trump for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.