Some Republicans Boldly Declare Nazis Bad. Others Yell ‘Ilhan Omar!’

Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley are pathetic.

Almost a full week has passed since Donald Trump wined and dined Kanye West, noted antisemite, and Nick Fuentes, a repulsive white nationalist Holocaust denier. Don’t worry, though, Republican senators at least are finally speaking out against Trump’s poor party planning.

 Mitt Romney said, “There’s no bottom to the degree which [Trump is] willing to degrade himself and the country for that matter. Having dinner with those people was disgusting.” Bill Cassidy, who like Romney voted to remove Trump from office after January 6, tweeted, "President Trump hosting racist antisemites for dinner encourages other racist antisemites. These attitudes are immoral and should not be entertained. This is not the Republican Party.” Susan Collins, another pro-impeachment vote, said Trump should never have had dinner or even a meeting with Fuentes. 

 Joni Ernst said, “I think it’s ridiculous he had that meeting. I think it’s ridiculous.” John Cornyn simply said, “It’s bad.” A more loquacious John Thune went further:  “That’s just a bad idea on every level. I don’t know who was advising him on his staff but I hope that whoever that person was got fired.” Yes, which incompetent staffer violated Trump’s very clear “no Nazis at my dinner table” policy?

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell declared, "First let me just say that there is no room in the Republican party for antisemitism or white supremacy, 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.” And ole Mitch will stand by that at least until Trump wins the nomination.

 Steve Daines and Rick Scott, who helped Democrats hold the Senate, gave generalized “antisemitism is wrong and bad” statements. Roy Blunt, though, was sick of people asking him about Trump, who is the leader of his party and frontrunner for the 2024 presidential nomination.

“Blunt: “I’ve been tired about responding about what President Trump did or said for about four years. Seems to me there are other things you can ask about” On Fuentes and Ye: “I wouldn’t want to have dinner with either one of those guys””

— Igor Bobic (@Igor Bobic) 1669672179 

 Marco Rubio cautiously condemned “ass clown” Fuentes while insisting he knows for a “fact” that Trump isn’t personally antisemitic. This is the extent of the establishment Republican Senate wing that at least tries to act like normal people.

Meanwhile, Ted Cruz didn’t hesitate to degrade himself on Trump’s behalf. When the White House issued a statement denouncing Trump’s dinner with Ye and Fuentes — “Bigotry, hate, and anti-Semitism have absolutely no place in America, including at Mar-a-Lago. Holocaust denial is repugnant and dangerous, and it must be forcefully condemned" -- Cruz churlishly responded, “Now do Biden giving the eulogy — just 11 years ago — for KKK 'exalted cyclops' Robert Byrd.” He even had a staffer dig up a photo of Biden with Byrd and Joe Manchin.

Twitter 

We all know Cruz is a singularly graceless liar, but Byrd thoroughly rejected his racist past. He called joining the Klu Klux Klan "the greatest mistake I ever made.” He said in 2005, "I know now I was wrong. Intolerance had no place in America. I apologized a thousand times ... and I don't mind apologizing over and over again. I can't erase what happened.”

Cruz might’ve missed this other key point, but Byrd was born in 1917 and has been dead for 12 years, which severely limits his attendance at dinner parties. Ye was born in 1977, and Fuentes first tainted the earth in 1998 (!). Schindler’s List is older than Fuentes, who is unapologetically antisemitic.

While Cruz is digging up racist skeletons, let’s remember that Nazi-adjacent bigot Steve King was alive and still saying racist crap when he served as national co-chair for Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Cruz’s fellow 2020 Big Lie coup plotter Josh Hawley also engaged in shameless “whataboutism” regarding Trump’s Nazi dinner. “I suppose he can have dinner with whomever he wants to,” Hawley said, defending Trump’s apparent constitutional right to dine with fascists. "I wouldn’t have dinner with [Fuentes.]” Slow caps all around! "I’m not a big fan of giving people who say they hate Jews, hate Israel, giving them a platform, which is why I also think Kevin McCarthy is right to [strip] Ilhan Omar of her committee assignments.”

What would cowardly Republicans do without Rep. Ilhan Omar? She’s the political equivalent of shouting “Squirrel!” Omar doesn’t hate Jews. She’s apologized (repeatedly) over her use of antisemitic tropes in regard to Israel, though tweeting “all about the Benjamins” is not on the same level of as outright Holocaust denial. Republicans have a lot of nerve singling out Omar for past comments that are roughly on par with Republicans blaming George Soros for everything awful in America.

Ilhan Omar, of course, won’t appear at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket in 2024. Republicans will have to contend with their own toxic nominee and the despicable people he attracts.

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