Trump: Ye Made Some 'Rough Statements' About Jews (Newsmax)
By Nicole Wells | Tuesday, 01 November 2022 07:36 PM EDT
Former President Donald Trump described rapper Kanye West’s recent comments about Jews as “rough,” in an interview on Tuesday.
“He made some statements, rough statements, on Jewish [people],” Trump said during an interview with conservative podcaster Chris Stigall.
The artist now known as Ye has repeatedly made antisemitic comments and promoted conspiracy theories in recent weeks, to increasing backlash.
Last month, Ye’s Instagram account was restricted for claiming that rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs was controlled by Jews and days later he was locked out of his Twitter account for saying he was “going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.”
According to The Hill, the rapper pushed several antisemitic conspiracy theories in parts of his interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson that were not aired.
“I prefer my kids knew Hanukkah than Kwanzaa,” Ye reportedly said. “At least it would come with some financial engineering.”
A number of companies have cut ties with Ye because of his remarks, including Adidas, Balenciaga, Gap, CAA, MRC Entertainment, TJ Maxx and Footlocker, and he claimed he lost $2 billion in a single day, according to The Hill.
In Tuesday’s interview with Stigall, Trump suggested that Ye was being punished for supporting the former president.
“So then you ask, well, would it have been the same thing if he didn’t say all those good things about Trump?” he asked. “You know, you just don’t know.”
Similarly, Trump was recently accused of making antisemitic comments on his social media platform Truth Social.
“No President has done more for Israel than I have,” the former president said. “Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S.”
He added, “U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel — Before it is too late!”