In an appearance with Chris Cuomo on NewsNation on Monday, singer Kanye “Ye” West doubled down on anti-Semitic comments about what he called “the Jewish underground media mafia.” But in the following hour, host Dan Abrams suggested during his eponymous show that West’s disgusting comments and interest in buying the social media company Parler were strategic movies to “create a right-wing brand.”
Abrams set the tone by kicking off the show with this question:
Kanye West or Ye will by the right-leaning social media platform Parler after being kicked off Twitter and Instagram over anti-Semitic comments. But isn't this more evidence that he is not mentally ill but just trying to create a right-wing brand?
“But from Kanye’s perspective, it appears he's just doubling down on fringe right-wing positions,” Abrams added a little bit later.
Abrams also didn’t put stock in theories that Kanye’s recent actions and outbursts were signs that he was suffering from his diagnosed bipolar disorder.
“Now, many have refused to take Kanye’s comments seriously, expressing sympathy for what they believe are clear symptoms of severe mental illness, which I think is a cop-out,” he said. “And the people who think he's mentally ill, maybe aren't giving him enough credit for believing what he's saying, including his anti-Semitism.”
To him, “[i]t seems too easy and protective of him to just say he's mentally ill” and it was all part of a machination to appeal and profit off of bigotry on the right:
He wants to own this market not just politically but financially too. When he wears a white lives matter shirt to a fashion show in Paris and aligns himself with far-right extremists like Candace Owens. Those aren’t signs of mental illness. They’re signs of someone in desperate search of a high-profile lucrative identity.
(…)
Look, done right, Parler is a good business idea to attract the many conservatives who’ve had it with Twitter.
“To write off this gambit as some sort of manic episode is to completely downplay his business acumen,” Abrams added. “His apparel brand has been valued somewhere between 3.2 billion and 4.7 billion. He also has a deal with The Gap and industry experts value in excess of a billion dollars.”
Abrams concluded the monologue by suggesting the ones with the screw loose were those who thought Kanye was suffering and not catering to the political right. “[T]his whole Kanye’s cuckoo narrative, maybe crazier than the man who’s cashing in on it.”
These suggestions that Kanye’s anti-Semitism appeals to those on the right were made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Chase and Fidelity. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NewsNation’s Dan Abrams Live
October 17, 2022
9:07:10 p.m. EasternDAN ABRAMS: Kanye West or Ye will by the right-leaning social media platform Parler after being kicked off Twitter and Instagram over anti-Semitic comments. But isn't this more evidence that he is not mentally ill but just trying to create a right-wing brand?
(…)
9:24:32 p.m. Eastern
ABRAMS: Now, many have refused to take Kanye’s comments seriously, expressing sympathy for what they believe are clear symptoms of severe mental illness, which I think is a cop-out.
(…)
9:25:55 p.m. Eastern
ABRAMS: But from Kanye’s perspective, it appears he's just doubling down on fringe right-wing positions. And the people who think he's mentally ill, maybe aren't giving him enough credit for believing what he's saying, including his anti-Semitism.
Now, it's clear he's had mental health issues. In fact, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2016 and received inpatient psychiatric care. That's relevant. But the mental health defense has echoes of what we saw in the Antonio Brown saga were many were quick to excuse the troubled NFL star’s disturbing behavior, including bizarre on-field outbursts and sexual assault allegations, and chalked it up to mental health issues which he and his lawyer denied.
Look, mental health illness is a real and very serious issue in this country. But it can also be a very liberal way to explain away some you're responsible but deliberate behavior, behavior from which Kanye may be profiting.
This is clearly part of the brand for him. And the brand may be provocative fringe lunacy. Any arguments to the contrary, minimize his conscious decisions. It seems too easy and protective of him to just say he's mentally ill. He wants to own this market not just politically but financially too. When he wears a white lives matter shirt to a fashion show in Paris and aligns himself with far-right extremists like Candace Owens. Those aren’t signs of mental illness. They’re signs of someone in desperate search of a high-profile lucrative identity.
To write off this gambit as some sort of manic episode is to completely downplay his business acumen. And he's unquestionably shown he’s a savvy businessman. His apparel brand has been valued somewhere between 3.2 billion and 4.7 billion. He also has a deal with The Gap and industry experts value in excess of a billion dollars.
Look, done right, Parler is a good business idea to attract the many conservatives who’ve had it with Twitter. And so, this whole Kanye’s cuckoo narrative, maybe crazier than the man who’s cashing in on it.
(…)
