Kanye Paid These Far-Right Trolls Thousands to Work on His Presidential Campaign

Far-right trolls Nick Fuentes and Milo Yiannopolous made tens of thousands of dollars between them at the end of 2022, thanks to rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, according to a campaign finance filing. 

In November, as Ye fell deeper into the throes of disgrace due to a self-inflicted antisemitism scandal, the rapper announced that he was running for president in 2024. He then brought Fuentes and Yiannopoulos onto his prospective campaign and paid them using leftover cash from an earlier short-lived bid for the White House in 2020. 

The document, filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission and first reported on by the Daily Beast, offers some insight into the dynamic and inner-workings of the unlikely alliance between the three men. Not only were the far-right using Ye as a Trojan horse to push antisemitism into the mainstream, they were also benefiting monetarily from his downward spiral. 

Ye made two separate payments to 24-year-old white nationalist livestreamer Fuentes, who’s serving as Ye’s campaign communications manager, according to the filing. The first payment, for $9,026, was categorized as “travel reimbursement,” and made Nov. 22—one day after the rapper brought Fuentes to a controversial dinner with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Fuentes received a second payment for $5,693at the end of December. It was also listed as “travel expenses,” though it’s unclear what trip that was for. 

Yiannopoulos, a notorious troll who recently rebranded as a devout christian nationalist and briefly served as Ye’s campaign manager, also received two separate payments. One was made in late November, for $9,955. The second, made on Dec. 15 for $40,000, was categorized as “campaign wrap up services.” 

Yiannapolous was fired from Ye’s campaign amid reported infighting and following several disastrous media appearances, in which the rapper declared his love for Hitler and argued that people “gotta stop dissing the Nazis all the time.” 

In addition to the payments to Fuentes and Yiannopoulos, Ye also paid thousands to GSF Inc., a Texas-based group run by veteran GOP operatives who were involved in his failed 2020 campaign. Those payments were categorized as “accounting services.” 

Ye has yet to formalize his bid for president by filing 2024 paperwork with the FEC, and it’s currently unclear whether he’s still serious about running. He’s seemingly switched gears from his antisemitic crusade and retreated back to regular Hollywood life. And celebrity gossip magazines have moved on from his fall from grace, to focus on the buzz surrounding his new wife, Bianca Censori. 

Even with Ye seemingly out of the picture for now, the far-right continue to profit from his status as a celebrity and a Black man. Fuentes’ supporters, known as groypers, recently launched a campaign called “#YeIsRight,” and even set up a table on campus at Florida Atlantic University, where they recorded themselves arguing with students about the Holocaust. Fuentes has also been promoting a new network, founded by a University of Chicago student, called “Students for Ye,” which overlaps closely with online groyper networks.

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