Top Republicans in the US Congress have deleted a tweet that appeared to express support for Ye, a rapper formerly known as Kanye West, after he praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
Since October, a Twitter account run by Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee has contained a cryptic post that read: “Kanye. Elon. Trump,” apparently claiming Ye, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and the ‘former president Donald Trump.
A day after the tweet was published, Ye, who is black, posted a post on Instagram, which has since been deleted, in which he said he would go “to the death with 3” to Jews. He continued to make anti-Semitic comments in interviews and dined with Trump and white supremacist Nick Fuentes at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
Still, the short Republican tweet continued. In the end, it took a rant from Ye expressing admiration for Hitler and earned widespread opprobrium for him to be quietly removed.
Shielded behind a face mask, Ye appeared alongside Fuentes on InfoWars, a show hosted by far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, known for pushing lies around events like the Sandy school shooting Hook in 2012.
The rapper said, “I see good things about Hitler… Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler.”
Even Jones, flanked by his right for perhaps the first time, looked uncomfortable and said, “The Nazis were thugs.” Ye insisted: “But they also did good things. We need to stop looking down on the Nazis all the time.”
He later added, “I love Jews, but I also love Nazis.”
Jones tried to give Ye a chance to back down, but he remained adamant: “There’s a lot I like about Hitler. A lot.”
The comments could hardly have come at a worse time for Trump, whose recent dinner with Ye and Fuentes cast a shadow over his latest campaign to win the White House. Widely criticized for pandering to white nationalism, the former president has said he did not know Fuentes or his views, but has not apologized for hosting Ye.
Ye’s outburst also suggested that Republicans’ effort to align themselves with one of the world’s most popular musicians in an attempt to appeal to young, black voters has backfired.
Norm Coleman and Matt Brooks, leaders of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said in a statement: “We strongly condemn these comments and call on all political leaders to reject these messengers of hate and relegate them to the dustbin of history where they belong
“Given his praise of Hitler, it cannot be overstated that Kanye West is a vile and repulsive bigot who has attacked the Jewish community with Nazi-style threats and smears. Conservatives who have mistakenly indulged Kanye West needs to make it clear he’s an outcast. Enough is enough.”
Jonathan Greenblatt, executive director of the Anti-Defamation League, tweeted: “Saying you like ‘Hitler’, ‘love Nazis’ and hanging out with a white supremacist makes one thing clear: You are a vicious anti-Semite. His comments today’s InfoWars aren’t just vile and offensive: they endanger Jews.”
Ye has lost lucrative deals with companies like Gap and Adidas in recent months. On Thursday, it was announced that Ye’s deal to buy Parler, a conservative social media app, had also been called off.