Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, long accused of splashing around in antisemitism, dipped back into those waters in his eulogy for Charlie Kirk on Sunday. Carlson likened Kirk to Jesus, who “shows up and he starts talking about the people in power and he starts doing the worst thing you can do, which is tell the truth. And they hate it and they just go bonkers. And they become obsessed with making him stop.”
“I can just sort of picture the scene,” Carlson continued, “in a lamp-lit room with a bunch of guys sitting around eating hummus thinking about, ‘What do we do about this guy telling the truth about us? We must make him stop talking!’”
Kirk had a funny way of being a “friend” to Jewish people.
With the image of “people in power … sitting around eating hummus,” Carlson appeared to strongly imply that Jews killed Jesus. As the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement, “Carlson’s remarks dangerously reinforced the belief that Jews killed Jesus and that Jews have been a malevolent force throughout history. This antisemitic myth has led to expulsions and murders of Jews for centuries.”
Carlson’s use of an old antisemitic trope is a chilling choice, all the more so given the conspiracy theories swirling that Israel was behind Kirk’s murder. It is also entirely unsurprising, given that members of the political movement in power in this country are comfortable with using and promoting antisemitic ideas.
One could read Carlson’s comments as a sign of the right’s growing rift on Israel, a divide between staunch supporters who see the current right-wing government as fellow travelers defending a vision of the West and those who believe Jews cause all the wars and are trying to trick Real Americans into bad foreign policy. Mark Dubowitz, head of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, made this contrast when he said that “Tucker Carlson used the memorial for Charlie Kirk — a passionate friend of Israel & the Jewish people — to spread antisemitic blood libels.”
It’s true that Kirk, though he sometimes platformed anti-Israel voices, was a strong supporter of Israel (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deemed him a “lion-hearted friend”). But he had a funny way of being a “friend” to Jewish people. In 2023, he claimed that Jews control “not just the colleges — it’s the nonprofits, it’s the movies, it’s Hollywood, it’s all of it.”
A month later, he said, “The philosophical foundation of anti-whiteness has been largely financed by Jewish donors in the country.”
It should be abundantly clear, then, that one can both loudly declare themselves to be a supporter of Israel and also push classic antisemitic tropes, stereotypes and rhetoric. President Donald Trump has a long track record of support for Israel and Netanyahu’s government. But that did not stop him from saying Jews would be responsible if he lost the election, pushing conspiracies about Jewish philanthropist George Soros, and staffing his administration with multiple individuals with histories of antisemitic remarks or ties to antisemitic activists and commentators. Carlson is part of a political movement that is comfortable using antisemitism for political ends. Carlson’s words aren’t really a sign of a divide on the right. It would be more accurate to say they show that, regardless of where reactionary figures in American politics fall on Israel, they are likely comfortable with antisemitic tropes. Confronting antisemitism effectively requires recognizing this. Though the ADL criticized Carlson’s words, for instance, its president, Jonathan Greenblatt, has praised the president’s crackdown on students on visas and universities, even as critics warn that the administration is using accusations of antisemitism to chill speech on Israel while dismantling liberal civil society. Carlson is part of a political movement that is comfortable using antisemitism for political ends. There may be some who do not care one way or another and just use it because they think it can scare people into voting for them, and there may be some who are fervent Christian nationalists and hate Jews in their heart of hearts, but what they share is a willingness to pump antisemitic ideas into our politics and society. There may be people who tell themselves that that is all right because there are also those within the movement who support Israel and because the president is cracking down on critics of Israel and Zionism (along with universities and nonprofits). But Carlson’s eulogy for Kirk was a reminder that, once you decide you are comfortable with antisemitism, you do not get to also decide how much prejudice is acceptable; your antisemitic allies do.
Emily Tamkin
Emily Tamkin is a global affairs journalist and the author of "The Influence of Soros" and "Bad Jews." 
