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| Tucker Carlson |
The dangers of Mamdani are fairly obvious. He inspires virulent hatred of Israel and thereby, by association, hatred of the Jewish people. Most
Americans believe that if you are Jewish, you support Israel. - even though there
is plenty of evidence lately that many Jews no longer do. They have been led to
believe that Israel has been committing genocide against the Palestinian people
through its tactics in Gaza.
They blame Israel’s leadership for that, and thereby Israel
itself, seeing what was once a socially conscientious nation as having slid
down the rabbit hole of the extremist right. Although this is patently untrue,
it would be nearly impossible to convince these Jews otherwise.
Be that as it may, Mamdani’s views about Israel are clear.
He has openly stated more than once that he does not believe Israel has the
right to exist as a Jewish state. He has spent most of his adult life making
that view well known. It is a view shared by Hamas, which Mamdani has refused
to condemn. The only difference between Hamas and Mamdani is that Hamas
actually tried to act on that belief on October 7, 2023. But short of that,
Mamdani has supported and even attended many Palestinian protests that called
for the destruction of Israel and restoring the land to its ‘rightful’
owners - the Palestinian people.
Not that he can implement his views as mayor of New York.
But he can - and will - set a tone that encourages increased protests against
the Jewish state, which will no doubt lead to increased violence against the
Jewish people of New York. The victims will most likely be those of us who are
most visibly Jewish, living in large Jewish neighborhoods. That is
where the danger of a Mamdani administration lies: the anti-Jewish violence he
will surely inspire, even if unintentionally.
That said, I do believe he will be vigilant to assure that
such violence doesn’t happen. And that if it does, he will act quickly to stop
it. He surely does not want to be accused of looking the other way when Jews
are hurt. Nonetheless, that danger exists, and he will have to be vigilant if
he wants to avoid validating accusations of antisemitism.
So, as dangerous as Mamdani is, at least he is clear about
his views. And most Jewish clergy across all denominations know it.
Carlson, however, is a far more dangerous enemy. First,
because he has built up a following of millions of people based on his
conservative politics. He is an icon of the right and a leader of public
opinion in conservative circles. He is charismatic and articulate. Until
recently was not seen as any kind of antisemite. After he was fired from Fox,
he started his own podcast, which now boasts over a million devoted followers.
No longer constrained by Fox’s standards, his antisemitism has become
increasingly exposed.
Carlson is very clever about it. Denying he’s an antisemite
but is openly hostile to Israel. Couching his hostility in terms of his
Christian faith. Thankfully, some Christian clergy have called him out for
that. But couching it in his Christian faith is exactly how white supremacists
frame their antisemitism.
Some of what Carlson says about Israel mirrors what
far-right white supremacists and other fringe right-wing antisemites have
been saying for many decades. For example - that Israel has infiltrated the U.S. government and now runs the show. Some of his rhetoric even mimics what the anti-Israel left
says. As far apart as these two camps are politically, antisemitism is the one
thing they have in common.
Carlson’s followers have followed him down that same rabbit hole. Where they once
supported Israel, Carlson has disabused them of that support.
I do not believe that most mainstream conservative
Republicans agree with him. However, the fact that over a million people do is
nothing to sneeze at. Add to that Carlson’s relationship with the president’s
son, the vice president, and the recent defense he received from Heritage
Foundation president Kevin Roberts—for hosting avowed antisemite Nick Fuentes
on his podcast - and that makes for an unprecedented and dangerous influence on
political discours in this country.
Roberts has since made clear that he rejects Fuentes’
antisemitism in totality and reaffirmed his organization’s determination to
fight it. But I suspect Roberts still has a warm spot for his old conservative
colleague even if he disagrees with him.
So yes. We are getting it from both sides: from the left and from the
right. But the right is more dangerous, because I believe that conservative
values are more mainstream.
This could turn back the clock to a time when Jews were
persecuted simply for being Jews and marginalized as second class citizens by a dominant Christian
culture.
I don’t think we are anywhere near that now. We still have
many friends in high places who defend us and consider us equal citizens. But
the Carlsons of the world are trying to change that, and they have made some
inroads.
Comments to the post can be made at Emes Ve-Emunah II where it is cross-posted
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