Republicans delete tweet that appears to support Kanye West after he praises Nazis

Leading Republicans in the US Congress have deleted a tweet that seemingly expressed support for Ye, a rapper formerly known as Kanye West, after he praised Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

Still, the short Republican tweet remained up. In the end, it took a diatribe from Ye that expressed admiration for Hitler and earned widespread opprobrium for it to be quietly removed.

Shielded behind a face mask, Ye appeared alongside Fuentes on InfoWars, a show hosted by far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, known for pushing lies around events such as the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012.

The comments could hardly have come at a worse time for Trump, whose recent dinner with Ye and Fuentes cast a shadow over his latest campaign to win the White House. Long criticised for giving succour to white nationalism, the former president has stated that he did not know Fuentes or his views but has not apologised for hosting Ye.