Kanye West can start paying white nationalists from his old presidential campaign again
Rapper and former 2020 presidential candidate Kanye West can resume using surplus money from his old presidential campaign account to pay white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes for his services.
A week after West’s previous campaign treasurer resigned, a Federal Election Commission filing reviewed by Raw Story on Monday listed a new treasurer, Devin Anderson of Casper, Wyo.
Without a treasurer, West’s campaign couldn’t legally raise and spend campaign money.
Voice messages left at the phone number listed for Anderson on the FEC form were not answered, except for an immediate text message that said, “Sorry, I can’t talk right now.” Texts sent directly to the number were unanswered.
Kanye 2020, West's presidential committee, had almost $125,000 remaining in its account as of March 31, according to federal records. The committee paid Fuentes $30,000 during the first two months of this year for "archival services."
That's in addition to $14,719 in payments West's campaign made to Fuentes in late 2022. Of that amount, $9,026 was made on Nov. 22 and coincided with the date West and Fuentes dined with Donald Trump at the former president’s Florida home.
West unsuccessfully ran as an independent presidential candidate in 2020, failing to qualify for the ballot in most states and only receiving about 68,000 votes nationwide — fewer votes than the likes of Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins (about 403,000) and Party for Socialism and Liberation candidate Gloria La Riva (about 85,000).
He says he intends to run for president again in 2024 and has reportedly hired another right-wing provocateur, Milo Yiannopoulos, to lead his political operations. But to date, he has not formally registered to run again for president and has established no formal campaign operation.
West has made a string of antisemitic comments in recent years, including saying he would go “death con 3 on Jewish people.” In an interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, he said, "I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis."
Fuentes is a white nationalist and conspiracy theorist who's called COVID-19 a "hoax" and called the attack on the U.S. Capitol and a racially motivated 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., "false flag" operations.
On May 8, the previous treasurer for Kanye 2020, Patrick Krason, resigned, according to a letter Krason sent the FEC.
"My name is Patrick Krason and I have resigned as Treasurer of Kanye 2020 campaign committee (C00751701) effective 9:00am EDT Monday May 8, 2023," the letter reads. "I have notified the campaign of my resignation and they have been made aware of the requirement to name a new treasurer within 10 days. I have also made them aware that they cannot raise or spend campaign funds until a new treasurer has been named. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns."
Politico reported last week that Krason sent a letter to West alleging that Yiannopoulos might have violated campaign finance law.
