The American rapper Ye — who is also known as Kanye West — made antisemitic comments on Twitter and Instagram last week and was temporarily banned from posting on the social-media platforms. West's recent actions have brought controversy and criticism, and more Americans have an unfavorable opinion of him (52%) than hold a favorable one (32%), according to the latest Economist/YouGov poll.
That unfavorability is generally consistent with how Americans have viewed West in recent years, according to other YouGov polling. A 2018 YouGov/Huffington Post poll showed that 56% had a strongly or somewhat unfavorable view of West. A 2015 YouGov/Huffington Post poll, conducted as West floated a presidential run, found that 69% of Americans had a strongly or somewhat unfavorable opinion of him. (The Economist/YouGov poll asked if people had a very or somewhat favorable or unfavorable view, rather than strongly or somewhat; the findings likely are still generally comparable).
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Polling by the Economist/YouGov was conducted on October 8 - 11, 2022 among 1,500 U.S. adult citizens. Explore more on the methodology and data for this Economist/YouGov poll.
Image: Getty Images (Pascal Le Segretain)
