A series of pro-Nazi Tweets by Ye (formerly Kanye West) made waves on social media on Feb. 7, two days before Super Bowl LIX. The support for these comments shocked people across the entire political spectrum; vocal fans seemingly applauded Ye for being “edgy” and “standing up” to the mainstream media.
Out of Ye’s first batch of Tweets, some of the most notably controversial – as well as highly reposted – focused on profanity-laden praise for Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Mohammed bin Salman and hate speech directed towards Jewish people alongside photos of Hitler, Trump, Musk and Salman, respectively.
In June of 2024, “X” (formerly Twitter) – owned and run by Elon Musk – made likes on posts private, providing anonymity to those who agree with these types of comments. Many have been alarmed by the large amount of support Tweets like these have gathered on the platform now that individuals’ names are no longer publicly attached to their likes. Some of these Tweets managed to amass well over 300,000 likes in the 48 hours before Ye’s account was taken down.
On Feb. 9, two days later, Ye surprised many watching the Super Bowl with an advertisement for his website. Similar to last year, Ye recorded a closeup of his face talking to an iPhone, stating, “What’s up, guys. I spent all the money for the commercial on these new teeth… So once again, I had to shoot it on the iPhone. Erm… uhm…. go to Yeezy.com.”
The emphasized lack of effort relative to the $8 million cost to run the ad at the Super Bowl was the punchline that separated it from other ads. Last year, Kanye was estimated to have made over $10 million from this joke; this time, his website was quickly taken down by Shopify. It sold just one shirt design, displaying a swastika.
For over a decade, “Punch Nazis” has been a popular bipartisan phrase and rallying call that united Americans on both sides of the political aisle against fascism. Influencers who voiced support for Ye – including Andrew Tate and Nick Fuentes – have spent years undermining this, attempting to convince chronically-online teenagers that they will no longer be “sheep” and will “escape the matrix” by hating racial minorities and the LGBTQ and now echoing the words of German fascists from the 1940s.
Whether the Tweets represent an actual belief or mere stunt for attention, Ye’s promotion of Nazi propaganda and antisemitic conspiracy theories has reversed cultural progress. Commenters online have noted the public acceptance and normalization of the same forms of eugenic propaganda that led to the Nazi party’s rise in the 1940s.
