Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee deleted their Oct. 6 tweet that appeared supportive of Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, after months of controversy over the rapper’s antisemitic remarks.
“Kanye. Elon. Trump,” read the tweet, which held up the rapper alongside Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter who has been bringing back right-wing figures who were once banned, and former President Donald Trump.
The tweet was deleted Thursday, as Ye was launching a lengthy antisemitic tirade during an appearance on the show InfoWars, hosted by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who is known for promoting falsehoods around events like the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012.
“I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis,” Ye said on the show Thursday. He also repeatedly expressed his admiration for Adolf Hitler.
House Judiciary Committee Republicans did not immediately return a request for comment about the deleted tweet. The GOP, currently in the minority, won control of the chamber in November’s midterms.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., called the interview “disgusting” and “unbelievable” Thursday. He told NBC News that it was incumbent upon not just Republicans, but “the entire nation” to condemn Ye’s remarks.
“He must have a mental issue. No one can believe what he said,” McCarthy added.
Ye began to grab increased attention among some conservatives in early October after he staged a show at Paris Fashion Week that included a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt.
The day after the tweet by the House Judiciary Committee Republicans, Ye posted a since-deleted post on Instagram where he said he would go “death con 3” on Jewish people.
The tweet stayed up then, and since, when Ye doubled-down on his antisemitic remarks in other interviews. In that time, Ye also lost lucrative deals with companies like Gap and Adidas.
On Nov. 22, Trump agreed to have dinner with Ye at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. What was supposed to be a quiet dinner between the two men exploded into a public relations nightmare for Trump, who recently announced his 2024 run for president, when Ye brought along white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
Trump has stated that he didn’t know Fuentes or his views when he met with him, but he has not apologized for meeting with him or Ye.
In a statement Thursday, the leaders of the Republican Jewish Coalition called Ye’s InfoWars appearance “a horrific cesspool of dangerous, bigoted Jew hatred.”
“Conservatives who have mistakenly indulged Kanye West must make it clear that he is a pariah,” the organization’s national chairman, former Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, and CEO Matt Brooks said in a statement. “Enough is enough.”
