Megyn Kelly Calls Trump’s Dinner With Neo-Nazi ‘Alarming,’ Even if He Didn’t Know Fuentes

Commentator Megyn Kelly shared her thoughts on former President Donald Trump’s dining with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes.

Last Tuesday evening, Trump made headlines by hosting the two for dinner at his Mar-a-Lago home, but later claimed that Fuentes arrived unexpectedly alongside West.

Fuentes has been banned from many social media platforms for his far-right views, anti-Semitic comments, and repeated denial of the Holocaust.

According to Politico, Trump attempted to clear the air about the dinner in a message posted to Truth Social last Friday.

“This past week, Kanye West called me to have dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Shortly thereafter, he unexpectedly showed up with three of his friends, whom I knew nothing about,” Trump wrote. “We had dinner on Tuesday evening with many members present on the back patio. The dinner was quick and uneventful. They then left for the airport.”

On the Monday edition of SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Show, Kelly was joined by National Review’s Charles C. W. Cooke. During the conversation, Kelly said she believed Trump truly was unaware of Fuentes’ controversial past.

“Here’s the thing. I believe Trump when Trump comes out and says, ‘I didn’t know who that was.’ I believe him because most people have no idea who Nick Fuentes is,” Kelly said.

“I’m in media. You’re in media. I’ve covered him ’cause he went after my friend and it made a — it was a dust up on Twitter. Most people have no idea who that is. And Trump’s been kind of busy the past six years,” she continued.

“So I believe he didn’t know him, but he knew what Kanye West has said recently. He had absolutely no screening process in place to make sure whoever Kanye was bringing was not deeply problematic? Milo Yiannopoulos is little controversial too, for the same reasons. Similar,” Kelly added.

But despite believing the former president was unaware of Fuentes’ history, Kelly did admit that the optics of the dinner were “alarming.”

“It is alarming to me the prospect that Trump might have somehow been intentionally fanning a certain flame with a certain part of his base because it helps him, helps him get in the news, helps him generate controversy, etc.,” she said.

Cooke chimed in to say that even if Trump was unaware of Fuentes’ identity, it still doesn’t get the 2024 candidate off the hook.

“Well, look, even if it’s true that Trump didn’t know who that was, it doesn’t let him off the hook for a couple of reasons. First, because he is not a random guy. If you host a party, you say, ‘Let’s meet at a restaurant,’ and a friend of a friend brings Nick Fuentes along, maybe that’s okay. You say, ‘I didn’t know who it was. I’d never have invited him. He doesn’t represent my views or my values in any way,'” Cooke explained.

“It’s a little bit different when you’re the former president of the United States, you do have an obligation to screen your guests a lot more carefully than Trump did. And I, for what it’s worth, think that should have included Kanye West as well, given his recent behavior,” he added.

As the conversation continued, Cooke insisted that although Trump seemed to supply some explanation toward his unexpected dinner guest, this isn’t a common issue with other people.

“It also matters because the justification that he didn’t know who he was not withstanding, this isn’t a problem that seems to befall other people,” Cooke said. “It’s not as if we wake up every morning and we read, ‘Oh no, another white supremacist got into [Texas Governor] Greg Abbott’s mansion and had dinner with him. Oh no. Governor [Ron] DeSantis was caught once again with a known anti-Semite.'”

“You know, Donald Trump has declared for president. He is therefore eligible for a great deal of public scrutiny and comparison with his peers and his peers aren’t doing this. This is a problem that, even if accidental, only seems to happen to Trump and that is a problem given his declared interest in becoming president again,” Cooke concluded.

Listen above via SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Show.

—

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com