It started as a game. That's the part people forget. A decade ago, "Who Said It: Kanye or Hitler" was a fringe internet quiz, a bit of shock humor played by people who thought the comparison was an absurd stretch. It was a joke about ego. You’d see a quote about being a "god" or "changing the world" and have to guess if it came from a 21st-century rapper or a 20th-century dictator.
But then 2022 happened.
The "Who Said It: Kanye or Hitler" phenomenon shifted from a snarky meme into a grim reality when Kanye West, now known as Ye, began openly praising the architect of the Holocaust. Suddenly, the quiz wasn't about guessing who had the bigger ego. It was about tracking a public figure's descent into actual, literal antisemitic rhetoric. It’s a strange, uncomfortable piece of internet history that tells us a lot about how we consume celebrity meltdowns.
Why the Comparison Even Exists
Honestly, the early versions of this comparison weren't about hate speech. They were about "Great Man Theory."
Kanye West has always had a messiah complex. Since The College Dropout, he’s positioned himself as a visionary fighting against a system designed to hold him back. He used words like "crusade" and "victory." On the other side, the historical record of the 1930s is filled with speeches about national destiny and the power of the individual will. Because both used high-flown, dramatic language about their own importance, the quotes sometimes sounded eerily similar in a vacuum.
If you take a quote like, "I am the greatest human being of all time," most people would guess Kanye. If you take a quote like, "I will be heard," it could be either.
The problem is that the vacuum vanished. In October 2022, Ye went on Drink Champs and later appeared with Alex Jones on InfoWars. He didn't just sound like a megalomaniac anymore. He started using the same tropes that have been used to marginalize and dehumanize Jewish people for centuries. He wasn't just "sounding like" a dictator for the sake of a quiz; he was citing the same conspiracies that dictators use to gain power.
The Evolution of the "Quiz"
There was a site back in the day—long before the recent controversies—that literally hosted a "Who Said It: Kanye or Hitler" game. It featured black-and-white text. You’d click a button. It was designed to highlight Kanye's perceived arrogance. At the time, Kanye was just the guy who interrupted Taylor Swift. He was the guy who called himself "Yeezus."
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The tone was light. It was satire.
Looking back at those archives now feels different. It’s heavy. When Ye told Alex Jones, "I see good things about Hitler," the "Who Said It" game effectively ended. Reality caught up to the parody. The nuances of mental health, specifically Ye’s documented struggle with Bipolar Disorder, added a layer of complexity that a simple internet quiz couldn't handle.
Medical experts, like those interviewed by NBC News during the height of the 2022 controversy, often point out that while mental illness doesn't cause antisemitism, it can certainly remove the filters that prevent someone from falling down radicalization rabbit holes. This is where the "Who Said It: Kanye or Hitler" comparison stops being a joke and starts being a case study in radicalization.
The Linguistic Crossover
If you look at the actual transcripts, the similarity often comes down to populist language.
Populists love to talk about "The People" versus "The Elites." They love to talk about "The Truth" that "They" don't want you to know.
- Kanye: "I'm going to death con 3 on Jewish people."
- The historical comparison: Rhetoric regarding the "international press" or "financial elites" controlling the narrative.
When people play "Who Said It: Kanye or Hitler" today, they aren't looking for similarities in music or art. They are looking at the mechanics of propaganda. They are looking at how a person can use a massive platform to target a specific group of people under the guise of "free speech" or "telling it like it is."
How to Tell the Difference (If You Still Care)
If you find yourself looking at one of these quotes, there are usually giveaways. Ye’s language is almost always centered on the "I." It’s deeply personal. It’s about his deal with Adidas, his sneakers, his masters, his divorce. It’s the language of a celebrity who feels wronged by the industry.
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Historical fascist rhetoric is usually centered on the "We." It’s about the state, the blood, and the soil. It’s about a collective destiny.
The crossover happens when Ye starts projecting his personal grievances onto a global scale. When he says "the Jewish media" is the reason he lost his billionaire status, he is bridging the gap between celebrity narcissism and historical antisemitic tropes. That is the exact point where the "Who Said It" quiz gets impossible to solve because the rhetoric becomes identical.
The Impact on the Fans
What does it do to a person when their favorite artist starts sounding like a history book villain?
It’s been a weird time for the "Ye" fanbase. Subreddits like r/Kanye and r/WestSubEver (which eventually shut down or shifted focus) became battlegrounds. For a while, the r/Kanye subreddit literally turned into a Holocaust awareness page. They stopped posting about Donda and started posting photos of Auschwitz.
This was the ultimate response to the "Who Said It: Kanye or Hitler" meme. The fans realized that the comparison wasn't funny anymore. They realized that words have consequences and that the "edgy" humor of the 2010s had curdled into something dangerous in the 2020s.
The Reality of the "Who Said It" Trap
The danger of the "Who Said It: Kanye or Hitler" game is that it can accidentally humanize the wrong person or trivialize a tragedy. By putting a rapper's tweets on the same level as a dictator's manifestos, we run the risk of making the dictator seem like "just another crazy celebrity" or making the rapper's hate speech seem like "just a meme."
It’s not just a meme.
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According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the "Ye is Right" slogan began appearing in real-world antisemitic attacks and leafleting campaigns shortly after his 2022 media tour. This is the tangible result of the rhetoric. It’s the moment the words leave the "Who Said It" quiz and enter the streets.
Actionable Steps for Navigating the Noise
If you encounter these "Who Said It" comparisons online, it's easy to get sucked into the "cancel culture" debate or the "separate the art from the artist" spiral. Here’s how to actually handle it:
Check the Context
Always look for the full clip. Soundbites are designed to trigger the "Who Said It" reaction. When you hear the full, rambling three-hour interviews, the reality of the situation—usually a mix of mental health crisis and radicalized rhetoric—becomes much clearer than a single shocking sentence.
Support the Right People
If you’re uncomfortable with the direction a celebrity has taken, the most effective thing you can do isn't arguing on Twitter. It's moving your attention. Support organizations that fight hate speech, like the ADL or the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Understand the Tropes
Educate yourself on what antisemitic tropes actually look like. They are often disguised as "critiques of the industry" or "questions about the media." Once you recognize the patterns, you don't need a quiz to tell you who said what—you'll see the intent behind the words immediately.
The "Who Said It: Kanye or Hitler" era of the internet is a dark chapter in pop culture. It serves as a reminder that the line between "eccentric genius" and "dangerous demagogue" is thinner than we’d like to believe, especially when a person has a microphone and a million followers. It’s not a game anymore. It’s a lesson in the power of words.