Kanye West news – Biden says ‘silence is complicity’ as Elon Musk suspends rapper for posting swastika

ICYMI: The rapper formerly known as Kanye West said on Thursday he plans to give Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and right-wing conspiracy monger Alex Jones the keys to his Twitter account, in protest against Elon Musk’s stance that he won’t let Jones back on the platform after a 2018 ban.

Josh Marcus has the story.

ICYMI: The Twitter account for the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee deleted a tweet that said “Kanye. Elon. Trump.” after rapper Kanye West praised Adolf Hitler.

The Judiciary Republicans tweeted the first names of Mr West, Tesla executive Elon Musk and former president Donald Trump on 6 October of this year. But that was before Mr West began tweeting antisemitic remarks, including saying he wanted to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.”

Eric Garcia has the story.

ICYMI: Kanye West praised Adolf Hitler during an appearance on Alex Jones’s far-right conspiracy theorist network Infowars.

West has been embroiled in controversy over antisemitic comments he’s made in recent months, leading brands like Adidas, Gap and Balenciaga to cut ties with the rapper.

Appearing on Jones’s show on Thursday (1 December), the host attempted to defend the musician, saying: “You’re not Hitler, you’re not a Nazi, so you don’t deserve to be demonised.”

Instead of agreeing, West pushed back, saying: “Well, I see good things about Hitler also.”

Tom Murray has the full story.

ICYMI: It appears, as Ye has suggested, that right-wing figures like Nick Fuentes are now using his Twitter account to reach its more than 32 million followers.

“Christ is King — America First, GROYPER! - NJF” read one tweet, a seeming reference to Fuentes, a Holocaust denier, and his reactionary “groyper” followers.

Here’s our full story on the rapper’s escalating right-wing behaviour.

ICYMI: Kanye West appears to be throwing his support behind the right-wing demonstrators who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

In a Thursday tweet, Mr West railed against what he called the “civil rights and due process violations” against the “J6 political prisoners.”

“Why were the only people killed unarmed protestors that day?” he added.

The tweet echos far-right talking points around January 6, which have sought to cast the insurrection as an innocent demonstration, rather than an armed attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election results, where protestors carried zip ties, chanted “Hang Mike Pence,” and injured countless police officers.

ICYMI: Kanye West may be moving increasingly to the right, but his recent virulently antisemitic remarls are winning him few friends with Jewish Republicans.

“We vehemently condemn those comments and calll on all political leaders to reject these messengers of hate and relegate them to the dustbin of history where they belong,” The Republican Jewish Coalition said on Thursday in a statement, following the rapper’s interview with Alex Jones, where he praised Hitler.

“Given his parise of Hitler, it can’t be overstated that Kanye West is a vile, repellent bigot who has targeted the Jewish community with threats and Nazi-style defamation,” the RJC continued. “Conservatives who have mistakenly indulged Kanye West must make it clear that he is a pariah. Enough is enough.”

Kanye West’s Twitter account has been suspended after he violated the platform’s policy against inciting violence by posting a design of a swastika inside the Star of David.

Twitter boss and tech-billionaire Elon Musk confirmed the suspension on Thursday (1 December), tweeting that he had “tried his best” to persuade the rapper not to share such posts.

On Thursday night, West shared the image of the Nazi symbol over the Star of David, a symbol of Judaism.

He then shared an image of Musk half-naked on a yacht. “Let’s always remember this as my final tweet,” West wrote.

“That is fine,” Musk replied on the image of himself topless. “This is not,” he wrote on the since-deleted swastika tweet.

Ellie Harrison has more details here.

ICYMI: Antisemitic rapper Kanye West has apparently scrubbed his Twitter account of any mention of his latest cohort, which includes white supremacist vlogger Nick Fuentes and right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.

West has been the centre of controversy for more than a month after he began publicly spouting antisemitic messages and hanging around with far-right media figures. Last month, West attended a dinner with Donald Trump where he told the former president that he intended to run for the Oval Office in 2024.

The rapper also brought Mr Fuentes along with him. In past videos, Fuentes has called on Mr Trump — should he win in 2024 —to halt elections and rule the US as a dictator.

In a now-deleted video he posted after the meeting, West claimed Mr Trump was impressed with Mr Fuentes, who has previously denied the Holocaust occurred.

Graig Graziosi has the story.

Elon Musk has made light of Kanye West posting an “unflattering” photo of him, claiming that he found it “helpful motivation to lose weight”.

The new Twitter boss suspended the antisemitic rapper from the social media platform after he posted an image of a swastika inside the Star of David.

After posting the offensive image, West, also known as Ye, then also shared a photo of Musk topless on a yacht.

West’s account was suspended over the Nazi symbol for violating Twitter’s policy against inciting violence.

After lamenting that he “tried my best” with West, Musk added in a follow-up tweet that the suspension was not related to the half-naked photo of him.

“Just clarifying that his account is being suspended for incitement to violence, not an unflattering pic of me being hosed by Ari,” he tweeted, before jokingly adding: “Frankly, I found those pics to be helpful motivation to lose weight!”