Salem News’s Larry O’Connor spoke with former President Donald Trump in a telephone interview on Monday night and pushed the former president on rapper Kanye West’s recent attack on his son-in-law Jared Kushner and other anti-Semitic statements.
“He’s been saying some really offensive things lately about your own son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and about Jewish people. Jewish Americans writ large. Could you react to that? Because is this the guy that you knew?” O’Connor asked.
“Well, I haven’t really seen the statements he’s made. I did watch the Tucker Carlson interview and he was really nice to me. Beyond anybody, he was. He was great to me,” Trump responded, highlighting Carlson’s two-hour sit down with West on Fox News.
During that interview West claimed he believes that Kushner helped negotiate peace deals between Israel and Gulf Arab nations, known as the Abraham Accords, in order to make money.
“When I think about all of these things that Jared somehow doesn’t get enough credit for with his work — what is it his work? In Israel, what is this, in Palestine, you know where he made his peace treaties? do you know the facts on this right here?” West said at one point during the rambling interview.
Carlson interjected it was to create peace between Israel and Arab nations.
“I just think it was to make money,” West replied, adding, “Is that too heavy-handed
After the interview aired West took to Twitter and posted a threatening tweet aimed at Jewish people and it was revealed that Carlson edited out parts of the interview, which critics argued omitted key context to West’s statements that made him appear less anti-Semitic.
Trump continued in his response to O’Connor, dodging West’s comments.
“And he was great, really, to MAGA, to the MAGA movement, which was very impressive. I was, you know, not surprised. I always got along with him. I liked him. I’ve always gotten along with him,” Trump continued, adding:
So I don’t really know what statements he made. Sometimes he’ll make a statement and a lot of people will think it’s worse, that he means it to be. But I think that, you know, I was I was certainly very you know, what I’m talking about. He was really high on a guy named Donald Trump.
Since his interview on Fox News and subsequent Twitter meltdown, West has continued to make public anti-Semitic statements, including claiming on Monday night in an interview with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo that a “Jewish underground media mafia” is trying to destroy his career.
Trump posted comments widely viewed and condemned as anti-Semitic on Sunday, writing, “No President has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this
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