Former US Vice President Mike Pence has hit out at Donald Trump for hosting a white nationalist at his Florida home.
The senior Republican took aim at his former boss in a sensational TV interview on Monday evening as he reportedly prepares his own bid to become the party's 2024 Presidential candidate.
Donald Trump is currently under fire for dining with Kanye West and Holocaust-denying white nationalist streamer Nick Fuentes last Tuesday in the courtyard of his lavish Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, which also serves as his primary residence.
Criticising his decision to host the hate speaker, Mr Pence told NewsNation in an interview: "President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an antisemite and a Holocaust denier a seat at the table, and I think he should apologise."
Image:
AFP via Getty Images)He went on to say he does not believe Trump is anti-Semitic or racist - and claimed he would not have served as Trump’s vice president if he was.
"But I think the President demonstrated profoundly poor judgment in giving those individuals a seat at the table and as I said, I think he should apologise for it" he added.
"He should denounce them without qualification."
Trump said in a statement at the weekend that he had "never met and knew nothing about" Mr Fuentes, who arrived at Mar-a-Lago alongside the controversial rapper.
However, he has not yet denounced the positions of the two men.
Image:
Andrew Harnik/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Mike Pence's reported ambitions to run for the Presidency would meanwhile put him in direct head-to-head competition with Trump, who officially launched his comeback campaign earlier this month.
On Saturday, Trump’s former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, another potential 2024 rival, called antisemitism a "cancer" - though did not reference the dinner or his old boss by name.
