The United States Supreme Court declared A series of rulings has held that association with a person who committed a crime is not conclusive evidence that the defendant committed the crime. However, in politics, a different criterion seems appropriate because the selection of colleagues, advisors, and allies provides important information about the views and values of candidates and officeholders.
Former President Donald Trump provides a great example.
In November 2022, rapper Kanye West, who calls himself Ye, dinner With the former president of Mar-a-Lago. Nick Fuentes, an uninvited guest, also accompanied him. you often was praised Hitler and the Nazis. Fuentes is a prominent Holocaust denier, white supremacist, and misogynist. claim “The Founders never intended for America to become a refugee camp for non-white people.”
A storm of bipartisan criticism arose. “You’re better than this.” I wrote David Friedman, President Trump's ambassador to Israel. “Even social visits by anti-Semites like Kanye West and human scum like Nick Fuentes are unacceptable. I urge you to relegate it to the dustbin of history where it belongs.”
President Trump claimed that he had “never met nor knew anything about Fuentes,” and posted that he and Ye “got along very well,” and that Ye “expressed anti-Semitism.” Thank you for all the good things he said about me.” President Trump did not condemn the hate speech by either man.
Far-right provocateur Laura Loomer revealed herself as a “proud Islamophobe.” She called the 9/11 attacks “internal work”, designed by the U.S. government. In 2017, when thousands of migrants drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, Loomer Posted“2,000 people left,” the message reads, along with a clap emoji and a toast saying, “That's great.” last month, Rumer predicted If Kamala Harris, whose mother is of Indian descent, is elected president, “the White House will smell like curry and White House speeches will be facilitated by a call center,” he said.
Earlier this year, Loomer flew on President Trump's plane on a campaign trip to Iowa. In September she flew to Philadelphia with him. Loomer attended two events commemorating the victims of 9/11 with the former president.
Senator Thom Tillis (RN.C.) Recently characteristic Loomer appears as a “crazy conspiracy theorist who regularly spews offensive trash.”
Mr. Trump appears to have a different view. “You're a very opinionated woman,” Trump told Loomer last year. “I like it,” President Trump told her at a conference on cryptocurrencies this summer. shout out loud: “She's a wonderful person and a wonderful woman.”
In response to concerns about Laura's influence on him, President Trump insisted, “I don't control Laura.” Laura has to say what she wants to say. She is a free spirit. ” And probably most people, important Tell him, “I know she's a big fan of the campaign…I think you want her on your side.''
A short list of incendiary comments by North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson Contains: Declaration that “homosexuality is an abominable sin” after the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting. In 2018, the claim was that “this foolishness of Hitler disarming millions of Jews and then marching them to concentration camps is a mass pushover.” Despite admitting that his wife had an abortion before marriage, he maintained that “abortion is killing a child because he did not have the responsibility to keep his skirt down.''
Nevertheless, Mr. Trump announced “Full and utter support” helped Robinson win the Republican gubernatorial nomination. “he excellent person” Trump emphasized, calling you an “incredible gentleman” to do.Cherish it…like fine wine”; “One of the biggest stars of the party, one of the biggest stars in politics.” President Trump attended a campaign event with Robinson and said the lieutenant governor was “better than Martin Luther King Jr. ” and said he was MLK “on steroids.”
Recently CNN Found a post allegedly written by Robinson. In online porn forums. “I like watching shemales in girl porn,” Robinson wrote. “Pull out the man while keeping him in! And yes, I'm a pervert too. '' Mr. Robinson appeared to lament that the KKK did not admit black people into the group, suggesting that if he were a member he would have called MLK “Martin Luther Kuhn.'' And Robinson opined: “Slavery is not a bad thing. Some people need to be slaves. I hope they take it back. I'll certainly buy some.”
Although Robinson denies that the post is his, the evidence that the post is his seems conclusive. Last week, four senior officials resigned from his campaign. That said, Trump has yet to criticize Robinson, much less ask him to leave.
In July, President Trump said, “After much consideration and thought,” Nominated by Senator J.D. Vance (Republican, Ohio) as his running mate. President Trump: “I couldn't be happier'' reporter. “I don't think it's any secret that he was my type of person.”
Mr. Vance once opined that conspiracy theories were “ridiculous.” spread out more than his fair share Of them. He said the federal government allowed fentanyl into the country to kill conservative and rural voters. In defending conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Vance once said:Believing something crazy is not an indicator of whether someone should be rejected”
In September, Vance promoted false allegations that Haitian immigrants were kidnapping, killing, and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. “If the American media had to do a story that actually focused on the suffering of the American people, that's what I would do,” he told CNN.
It seems reasonable to conclude that Ye, Fuentes, Loomer, Robinson, and Vance are like Donald Trump. And he hopes Americans will take his guilt into account by association when they vote.
Glenn C. Altshuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor Emeritus of American Studies at Cornell University.
