US President Joe Biden appeared to hit out at antisemitic remarks made by Kanye West earlier this week, reaffirming in a Friday evening tweet that the Holocaust did, in fact, happen and that Adolf Hitler was "a demonic figure."
"I just want to make a few things clear," the US president wrote, "the Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure. Instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides.
I just want to make a few things clear:The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure. And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides. Silence is complicity.
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 2, 2022
"Silence is complicity," Biden added.
Earlier on Friday morning, Kanye West's Twitter account was suspended after a tweet from Elon Musk explaining that the rapper again violated the rule against incitement to violence.
West tweeted out a photo late Thursday night promoting his 2024 presidential campaign with a photo of a star of David encasing a swastika. The post was removed from Twitter within a few hours. West also tweeted out an unflattering photo of Elon Musk, prompting Musk to clarify that "[West's] account is being suspended for incitement to violence, not an unflattering pic."
Kanye West promotes his 2024 Presidential campaign with symbol that seems to be a swastika inside the Star of David. pic.twitter.com/slH3HxyOYd
— Pop Base (@PopBase) December 2, 2022
The incriminating photo was accompanied by the caption "YE24 LOVE EVERYONE #LOVESPEECH," to which Elon Musk replied, "This is not." A Twitter user then responded to Musk asking him to "FIX KANYE PLEASE." The Twitter CEO then wrote, "I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended."
I tried my best. Despite that, he again violated our rule against incitement to violence. Account will be suspended.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2022
Alex Jones interview
This came mere hours after West appeared in an interview on Alex Jones' Infowars website denying the Holocaust and stating, "I like Hitler. The Holocaust is not what happened. Let's look at the facts of that and Hitler has a lot of redeeming qualities."
"He had a really cool outfit," West added about Hitler. "And he was a really good architect...and he didn't kill 6 million Jews."
Jones was quick to reject West's pro-Nazi stance during the interview.
Kanye West's Fall 2022 tweets
West had been largely off of Twitter for the two years leading up to his October 9 return when he said "I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 [sic] on Jewish people," likely incorrectly referring to a stage in the defense readiness condition of the United States military, or DEFCON. "You guys have toyed with me and tried to blackball anyone [who] opposes your agenda."
Since his early October "death con" tweet, West's account has been suspended or restricted and then re-instated multiple times. He has continued to make overtly antisemitic statements which are motivated by conspiracy theories such as the idea that Jews control the media, or the theory that the Holocaust never happened.
Michael Starr contributed to this report.