House Judiciary GOP cites ‘repulsive comments’ in deleting pro-Kanye West tweet on Thursday, despite rapper’s weeks of anti-Semitic rants
Kanye #Kanye
A Twitter account representing Republicans serving on the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday deleted a tweet praising rapper Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, citing his comments praising Adolf Hitler and Nazis during an appearance with Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The tweet, which simply read “Kanye. Elon. Trump.” was posted in the early hours on October 7, shortly after Fox News released a high-profile conversation between Ye and host Tucker Carlson.
“We deleted the tweet because of Mr. West’s repulsive comments,” a Judiciary spokesperson told Insider on Friday.
But the tweet remained up for weeks after Ye tweeted a vow to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” footage emerged from that same Carlson interview in which he made bigoted statements about Jewish people, and after Ye brought a prominent white nationalist to dinner with former President Donald Trump.
Asked why the tweet had remained up, the spokesperson simply re-sent the same statement: “We deleted the tweet because of Mr. West’s repulsive comments.”
The House Judiciary GOP Twitter account regularly posts attention-grabbing messages trolling Democrats and amplifying Republican talking points. Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell in August accused GOP staffer Russell Dye, who serves as the the communications director for the Judiciary Committee’s Republicans, of causing his office to receive a slew of death threats by promoting unproven claims on the minority’s Twitter account that Swalwell had an affair with an alleged Chinese spy.
It’s unclear if Dye authored the October 7 tweet, but the members of the GOP minority on the committee at least tacitly endorse the sentiments expressed on their official Twitter account.
During his Thursday appearance alongside Jones, Ye appeared with his head enshrouded in a black ski mask, repeatedly offering praise for the fascist German leader.
“Well, I see good things about Hitler,” Ye said.
“I like Hitler,” he also said.
On Friday, President Joe Biden called on political leaders to condemn anti-semitism.
“Silence is complicity,” the president said in a statement.