US Republicans delete tweet in support of Kanye West after rapper praises Hitler

Top Republican party leaders in the United States have distanced themselves from rapper Kanye West after he landed himself in hot water over his anti-Semitic comments.

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee deleted an old tweet that seemingly endorsed Kanye West after he launched into a tirade peppered with anti-Jewish sentiments, including an off-the-cuff remark about how he loves Nazis.

“I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis,” West, in a black face mask, told right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones while appearing on a livestream of the latter’s Infowars show.

West, who now prefers to be known monomynously as Ye, also praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and denied that the Holocaust – the genocide of Jews in Nazi Germany – ever happened.

“I see good things about Hitler also… Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler… I like Hitler,” he said.

After the rapper’s very public anti-semitic rant, Republicans, who once flaunted their association with West, went into damage control mode. They took down an October 6 tweet that said “Kanye. Elon. Trump.” – in apparent praise of West, Twitter boss Elon Musk, and former President Donald Trump.

The tweet had drawn scathing criticism from Democrats as West escalated his public anti-Semitic comments in past weeks.

GOP leaders also very vocally blasted him for his hateful remarks. Politico quoted New York Representative Lee Zeldin calling West a “deranged anti-Semite” while Rep. Ashley Hinson said his comments were “disgusting” and should be condemned in the “strongest possible terms”.

The Republican Jewish Coalition dubbed West a “vile, repellent bigot” for his praise of Hitler and targeting the Jewish community with “threats and Nazi-style defamation”.

Kanye West was suspended from social media platforms after tweeting about going “death con 3 on Jewish people”. Following this, a number of big brands, such as Adidas and Balenciaga, cut ties with him and his talent agency dumped him.

West, a Black man, also faced backlash when he appeared at a Paris fashion show wearing a shirt with the slogan “White Lives Matter,” a rebuke to the Black Lives Matter racial equality movement.