How Hitler Came Back

On May 8, Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) released the single ‘Heil Hitler,’ which includes the refrain: “Nigga, Heil Hitler.” On a recent podcast discussion with Nazi apologist Nick Fuentes, one of the allegedly conservative Hodge twins mused that “Hitler was right” while the other cackled. As former MMA fighter and podcaster Jake Shields put it bluntly on X on May 9: “Why do you think Adolf Hitler has become so popular over the past two years?”

It’s a question worth answering. The Venn Diagram overlap between major podcasters with massive audiences and figures with once-fringe views is growing by the week. Antisemites have used Israel’s war in Gaza to claim that they are actually anti-Zionists and to spread Jew-hatred in its most potent, unalloyed forms. At times, it seems as if the Overton window is shifting so swiftly you can hear it move. 

British conservative journalist and author Douglas Murray found himself at the center of this debate recently when he told Joe Rogan and comedian Dave Smith that they were playing a dangerous game by consistently platforming purveyors of historical counternarratives. At some point, Murray noted, “It’s not just asking questions, it’s telling people something.” Smith spent the better part of a week responding to Murray’s claims, stating, at one point, that: “Nobody has gone on Joe Rogan’s show and downplayed the Nazi atrocities.”

That may be true. But anyone attempting to pretend that the wave of growing antisemitism online is merely the work of trolls rather than true believers is frankly delusional, and a brief overview of the podcast ecosystem in which Smith himself frequently operates proves Murray’s point beyond doubt. Smith is too smart not to know this, and he would do well to do a bit of “noticing” on this score. 

For example, Smith has gone on Fight Back with Jake Shields; while Smith condemned antisemitism on the podcast, he bonded with the former fighter over their mutual condemnation of Israel. Smith is surely aware that Shields is an open Holocaust denier who stated, in 2024, that “I don’t think a single Jew died in gas chambers.” “Jew” is one of Shields’ favorite insults. Smith clearly doesn’t think that such views are disqualifying enough to stay off Shields’ show. 

One of the Rogan guests Murray cited, Ian Carroll, is a similarly insidious figure. Carroll recently explained to podcaster Myron Gaines of Fresh and Fit that his purpose in going on Rogan’s show was to “J-Pill” (“Jew Pill”) Joe and his audience, and detailed his strategy for doing so. The “J-Pill” is a reference to anti-Jewish conspiracy theories. In short, Carroll was doing precisely what Murray feared he was. Not incidentally, Carroll is an admirer of Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. 

Carroll has also podcasted with Jake Shields and Sneako, another prominent Holocaust questioner who threw up a “Heil Hitler!” salute while livestreaming with Gaines. Carroll, incidentally, was handpicked by Candace Owens to guest-host her popular show while she is on maternity leave, thus giving him the chance to further “J-Pill” her large audience, as well. Owens, who specializes in many such theories herself, has stated that America should not have fought in World War II and claimed that Atatürk and Stalin were Jewish.

Myron Gaines, for his part, has boasted that his podcast is the largest discussing the “JQ” (“Jewish Question”); he dabbles in Holocaust denial and praised Hitler. Gaines has also podcasted with Stew Peters, a Holocaust denier with nearly a million X followers who claimed that: “Adolf Hitler and the rise of the National Socialists may be the most lied about people in world history.” When Ye’s track dropped, Peters posted: 

Just passed a middle-aged Asian lady in the grocery store humming Heil Hitler. The world changed today and we’re never going back.

Scores of other examples could be cited. Milo Yiannopolous responded to a young woman warning on X that anyone can become a Nazi by saying, “Then you should tread [expletive] lightly bitch.” Podcaster Pearl Davis released a song titled “Why can’t we talk about the Jews?” which featured a rundown of neo-Nazi talking points. Disgraced ‘pastor‘ Joel Webbon, who runs Right Response Ministries, spends much of his online time honking on antisemitic dog whistles the size of tubas, as does Gab founder Andrew Torba.

This poison is not yet mainstream, although the surge of antisemitism in every Western country is an indication that we should not take that for granted. But it is being normalized. Virtually every major podcaster in America is a single degree of separation away from the most foam-flecked Jew-haters. Most of the discussions about Israel online descend into overt and undeniable antisemitism—not ‘anti-Zionism’—almost immediately. Murray was correct when he noted that calling this out is a matter of “social hygiene.” 

Jew-hatred should render you a social leper. Holocaust denial should earn you ridicule and contempt. Hitler apologism should be an act of social self-harm. Too many on the Right still believe that these people are merely transgressive trolls pushing boundaries. It has been clear for some time that they are actually tearing down fences. Dave Smith is not an antisemite, but he appears happy to podcast with Holocaust deniers and Jew-haters. He has every right to do so. But he should own it.