Donald Trump on Monday called rapper Ye a \u201creally nice guy\u201d who is \u201ccomplicated\u201d but has \u201ca good heart,\u201d praising the celebrity whose antisemitic remarks in recent years has drawn widespread condemnations and led many companies to cut ties.<\/p>\n
Trump was widely criticized in 2022 for having dinner with Ye and the far-right activist Nick Fuentes despite their antisemitic comments. On Monday, Trump seemed to allude to the controversy surrounding Ye \u2014 formerly known as Kanye West \u2014 during a lengthy interview with online streamer Adin Ross.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very complicated,\u201d Trump said as Ross prompted him for reactions to public figures pictured on a screen. Trump said the rapper \u201ccan get himself into trouble\u201d along with \u201csome other people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, you know, he\u2019s got a good heart,\u201d Trump said. \u201cHe does, he does, but he\u2019s complicated, Kanye.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ye\u2019s antisemitic statements cost him much of his business empire in 2022. At one point, the rapper said on social media that he planned to go \u201cdeath con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.\u201d Later, speaking to the far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, he said he liked Adolf Hitler and praised Nazis.<\/p>\n
Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung noted Trump\u2019s support for Israel and policy achievements including the Abraham Accords and said the former president has fought antisemitism \u201cin America and abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs President Trump said, this individual is a complicated person who gets himself into trouble,\u201d Cheung said, referring to Ye. \u201cKamala Harris talks out of both sides of her mouth to appease Hamas sympathizers while Democrats have emboldened antisemitic protests on college campuses.\u201d<\/p>\n
The interview also raised the possibility of campaign finance violations when Ross gave Trump two lavish gifts: a Rolex watch and a custom Cybertruck wrapped in an image from the moments after the assassination attempt on Trump last month. Elon Musk \u2014 the chief executive of Tesla, which produces the Cybertruck \u2014 has endorsed Trump.<\/p>\n
Individual contributions to candidates for federal office are capped at $3,300. Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said they would \u201csubmit an advisory opinion to the FEC to seek guidance on how to handle the gifts.\u201d The Federal Election Commission declined to comment on the gifts to Trump. Representatives for Ross did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Adin Ross is about to gift Donald Trump this Cybertruck today pic.twitter.com\/jWmqiSuPdy<\/p>\n
\u2014 Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) August 5, 2024<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Daniel Weiner, director of the elections and government program at the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonprofit law and public policy institute at New York University School of Law, said Ross probably landed himself in hot water with his gifts.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince Trump is a candidate, he\u2019s subject to federal contribution limits, which are in the neighborhood of $3,000 per individual per election,\u201d Weiner said. \u201cA contribution isn\u2019t limited to cash. It can be an in-kind contribution, which is a thing of value. A Cybertruck is a thing of value, as is a Rolex. It\u2019s pretty simple.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it\u2019s not Mr. Ross himself that\u2019s giving these gifts but his company or something, then it gets more complicated,\u201d Weiner added. \u201cAlthough corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money independently on electoral advocacy, corporations are still barred from giving directly to campaigns. And so, I would argue that if it\u2019s a corporation presenting these expensive gifts to a candidate, that\u2019s probably illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two years ago, Trump\u2019s meal with Ye and Fuentes drew pushback from across the political spectrum. Matt Brooks, chief executive of the Republican Jewish Coalition, criticized the \u201cvirulent antisemitism\u201d of Trump\u2019s dinner guests and said, \u201cWe \u2026 call on all political leaders to reject their messages of hate and refuse to meet with them.\u201d A representative for RJC did not immediately respond to an inquiry Monday evening.<\/p>\n
Ross, the streamer who interviewed Trump, is also deeply controversial. He previously hosted Fuentes, who has denounced \u201cperfidious Jews\u201d and said those \u201csuppressing Christianity \u2026 must be absolutely annihilated.\u201d The streamer once responded to a discussion of gender pronouns by saying his pronouns are \u201ckill \/ them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump praised the 23-year-old Ross effusively on Monday, saying he heard about the streamer from his youngest son, Barron. \u201cDad, he\u2019s really big,\u201d Trump recalled Barron remarking. After Ross urged his viewers to \u201cgo out there and vote, and vote for the right person,\u201d Trump marveled that Ross had gone further than many other interviewers in showing support. Behind them, about two dozen supporters listened and cheered periodically, as if they were at a rally.<\/p>\n
\u201cOutstanding, to do what you\u2019ve done at a young age,\u201d Trump told Ross.<\/p>\n
Trump and Ross spent the final part of their hour-and-a-half-long hangout sitting in the Cybertruck listening to music.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s conversation with Ross was wide-ranging. He criticized Vice President Harris by unfavorably comparing her with potential running mates: \u201cAll of the people she\u2019s looking at are considered much better than her,\u201d Trump said, adding that he thinks \u201cvirtually every one of them is considered better, smarter, would be a better president than her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris is expected to name her running mate Tuesday ahead of a scheduled multistate tour with the vice-presidential pick.<\/p>\n
Harris\u2019s campaign ridiculed Trump\u2019s appearance with Ross in a statement, branding it \u201clow energy\u201d and saying Trump \u201cspent the hour lying about his record and attacking the media instead of speaking to the issues young voters care about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump repeatedly attacked ABC News reporter Rachel Scott, who pressed Trump on past offensive comments last week at the National Association of Black Journalists convention. He called her \u201cnasty,\u201d \u201crude\u201d and \u201chorrible\u201d and said that if he owned the network, he would fire her.<\/p>\n
Patrick Svitek contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Donald Trump on Monday called rapper Ye a \u201creally nice guy\u201d who is \u201ccomplicated\u201d but has \u201ca good heart,\u201d praising the celebrity whose antisemitic remarks in recent years has drawn widespread condemnations and led many companies to cut ties. Trump was widely criticized in 2022 for having dinner with Ye and the far-right activist Nick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":7330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}