White nationalist Nick Fuentes describes his dinner with Trump: “We had a pretty good rapport”
Fuentes: “Trump liked me, and I like him. ... we had a pretty good rapport, and so he kind of — he heard me. He kind of agreed a little with what I was saying.”
Published
White nationalist Nick Fuentes describes his dinner with Trump: “We had a pretty good rapport”
Citation
From a September 22, 2024, X Space
NICK FUENTES: And even a couple of years ago, when I dined with the president, we liked each other. And everybody hates to report this, but it's true. Trump liked me, and I like him. And I've talked very publicly about the contents of that conversation at the dinner.
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I said, “Look, Mr. President” — I said, “I love you. I think you're one of the greatest living Americans and one of the greatest Americans of all time.” I said, “I have nothing to say but thank you for everything you've done. Nobody knows how hard it is,” I said, “but I've watched. And to the extent that I can understand it, I can't imagine what you've been through” and blah blah blah. It was — I was doing tricks on it a little bit. OK? But I meant it, and it was a little emotional because he's my hero. And Trump encouraged me. He said, “Don't be bashful.” He goes, “Come on. Don't be bashful. You can say it. Say it.”
And I said, “OK.” I said, “Well” — I said, “Do you remember at the 2016, the first primary debate in — that was hosted by Fox News, the famous one where you said, only Rosie O'Donnell. I think it was August 2015.” He's like, “Yeah.” I said, “Well, do you remember the first question they asked you at that debate? They said, ‘Raise your hand if you will not pledge to endorse the eventual nominee, even if you don't win.’” Because that's what Trump was saying at that time. He said, “If I don't win the primary, I'm going to run as an independent.”
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And so they said, “Just to be clear, you say you will not endorse the nominee, all but guaranteeing Hillary will win?” And Trump said, “Yeah. I understand the question.”
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I said — and, you know, what was so incredible about that — I said, “Is — you were” — and it's crazy how prescient it was. And my right hand to God, this is 100%. This is a play-by-play exactly how the conversation went, because I have an incredible memory. I know I just forgot my train of thought, but this is precisely one-to-one how it took place.
I said, “Yeah.” So I said in that moment — I said, “It was clear that you were willing to let the Republicans lose.” I said, “And I so admired that because we do not support the Republicans.” I said, “We support you. We don't support” — because at that time they had just reappointed Ronna McDaniel as the head of the — as the chair of the GOP or whatever. And Kevin McCarthy was in the speakership battle shortly after the midterms. So that's what was going on.
I said, “Look.” I said, “We don't support Kevin McCarthy. We don't support Ronna McDaniel. We support you.” I said, “And in that moment, you were willing to let the GOP lose because the GOP is just as bad as the Democrats.” I said, “You recognized that they were bad on immigration and war and trade.” I said, “And you were willing to actually mount a serious challenge. It's not serious if you're not willing to let them lose.” I said, “In that moment, you showed that you were serious about a hostile takeover of the GOP as a populist.” I said, “And that is why people love you. That is why people support you.” I said, “And I'd like to see more of that in 2024.”
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And so that was basically the thesis I gave to Trump. I said, “Look, we support you. We don't support the GOP.” I said, “And I like your attacks on the GOP because the GOP still hates you. They're still — they are mounting a challenge against you. They want to replace you on the ticket. They overthrew you with the Democrats in 2020.” I said, “And we're with you. The people are with you. We want to see you win.”
And that's what I said to him. And he was like, “Wow. You're pretty hardcore.” He goes, “So you actually like that?” I was like, “Yeah.” He goes, “You're pretty hardcore. I like this guy,” he said. He goes to Ye. He's like, “Where did you find this guy? This guy's like” — because, you know, we were rapping about the Truth Social and X and some of the polling. He's like, “This guy's like a statistician. Where did you find this guy?”
And I know he's a politician, so he probably blazes everybody. But we had a pretty good rapport, and so he kind of — he heard me. He kind of agreed a little with what I was saying.