Kanye’s Campaign Has Paid Holocaust Denier Nick Fuentes More Than $30,000 This Year
Funding hate
The payments were for “travel reimbursement” and “archival services,” according to the campaign’s latest Federal Election Commission filing
Kanye West’s presidential campaign claimed more than $30,000 in payments to white nationalist Nick Fuentes in its latest Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing. Fuentes first burst onto the alt-right scene following the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va.
The 2023 payments to Fuentes came in January and February when the campaign gave him $20,000 for “archival services” and another $10,296.96 for “travel reimbursement.” According to the Anti-Defamation League, Fuentes is a “white supremacist leader, organizer and podcaster who seeks to forge a white nationalist alternative to the mainstream GOP.”
These latest payments are not the first time West has given campaign cash to Fuentes. In a year-end report mandated by the FEC, West’s campaign disclosed $14,719 in travel reimbursements to Fuentes during 2022.
Last year, the rapper took a far-right turn, spouting harmful antisemitic rhetoric, proclaiming “I like Hitler,” and buddying up with Fuentes as well as far-right extremist and Stop the Steal organizer Ali Alexander. In November, West organized an infamous dinner with Trump and brought Fuentes as one of his guests. After dinner, West claimed that Trump was “really impressed” with Fuentes, while the former president called Kanye “a seriously troubled man” and claimed that he “didn’t know” Fuentes.
Fuentes isn’t the only alt-right provocateur to receive significant payments from West’s presidential campaign. Alt-right troll Milo Yiannopoulos, who had a short stint as West’s campaign manager before he was reportedly fired, received nearly $50,000 in payments, according to FEC filings.
West’s antisemitism and controversial behavior have brought much scrutiny to his business dealings. Adidas dropped West’s Yeezy line at the end of last October after he made antisemitic remarks. The company also launched an internal probe into West’s management tactics two days after Rolling Stone exclusively reported that he showed pornography to prospective and existing Yeezy employees and used bullying and “mind games” to exert his control over them.
