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Former Trump advisor on Kanye West's antisemitic comments: 'It’s unacceptable'

Seana Smith
·Host
·2-min read

Kanye West, who now is legally known as Ye, is buying conservative social media company Parler, a move following Instagram and Twitter’s decisions to suspend the rapper’s accounts over a series of widely condemned antisemitic posts.

In an interview during Yahoo Finance’s All Markets Summit on Monday, Former Trump adviser Gary Cohn described Ye’s recent offensive posts as “just unacceptable.”

“I'll say the same thing about Kanye West's remarks as I said to the President of the United States at the time,” Cohn said, referencing his reaction to then-President Trump blaming ‘both sides’ for violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“It’s unacceptable in this day and age, in the world that we live in, for people in a leadership position with that big of a platform, with that big of a microphone, to make those types of comments.”

PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 02: Kanye West and Carine Roitfeld attend the Givenchy Ready to Wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion show as part of the Paris Fashion Week on October 2, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Kanye West and Carine Roitfeld attend the Givenchy Ready to Wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion show as part of the Paris Fashion Week on October 2, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images) (Victor VIRGILE via Getty Images)

West appears to be justifying his purchase of Parler as a move to defend free speech, saying in a statement that: “In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves.”

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Parlement Technologies CEO George Farmer wrote: “This deal will change the world, and change the way the world thinks about free speech. Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again.”

Last week, Twitter (TWTR) and Meta (META) removed posts from Kanye West for violating company policies. In one post, which was removed by Instagram, Ye suggested rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs was controlled by Jewish people.

Hours later, Ye wrote in a tweet which was quickly removed by Twitter that he would go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”

Seana Smith is an anchor with Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @SeanaNSmith.

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