Let’s Face It: Antisemites Are Running MAGA
Accusations of antisemitism against MAGA figures have erupted since Oct. 7. However, events reached a climax when political pundit Tucker Carlson interviewed avowed Nazi supporter Nick Fuentes. Fuentes has affirmed and reaffirmed numerous hateful remarks. These include claims that “Hitler was right” and “the Holocaust didn’t happen.”
Such statements are not out of character for Fuentes, but they provide context for the interview that aired on Carlson’s new media platform, TCN. The platform was formed in the aftermath of Carlson’s departure from Fox News, and it has awarded him increased prominence and controversy. The podcast consistently ranks in the top ten largest in the world, and Carlson uses it to interview a bevy of characters such as Vladimir Putin, Dave Smith, Alex Jones, Andrew Tate and most recently, Nick Fuentes. Rather than challenge these individuals’ rhetoric, Carlson consistently amplifies their voices to his large audience. The Fuentes interview was the culmination rather than the start of Carlson’s peddling in conspiracy theories and antisemitism.
The podcast took place amid the rustic decor of Carlson’s recently debuted cabin –– a stray from the pundit’s Ivy upbringing and trademark bowtie. As per usual, the topic of Jews littered the conversation. Without censure, Fuentes accused “organized Jewry” of dual loyalty, instigating the Iraq war, controlling the media and advocating for Greater Israel — all claims that lack substantiation. While Carlson emphasized that he “doesn’t hate all Jewish people,” he agreed with Fuentes about Jews having dual loyalty, and he asserted that he “hate[s] Christian Zionists more than anybody” — a claim he has since rescinded.
The interview, which gained over 25 million views, faced a wave of backlash from moderate conservative voices. Political commentator Ben Shapiro devoted an episode of his podcast to the interview, and he blasted Carlson as an “intellectual coward.” Texas Senator Ted Cruz accused fellow GOP members of being “frightened” to call out the influential host. Even former majority leader Mitch McConnell broadly condemned Carlson.
In response to the backlash, prominent MAGA figures came to Carlson’s defense, labeling criticism of the interview as evidence of “cancel culture.” Foremost among them stands Kevin Roberts, the head of The Heritage Foundation — a decades-old prominent conservative think tank which penned Project 2025, a policy roadmap for the current Trump administration. Roberts condemned “the venomous coalition” and “the globalist class” for attacking Carlson, whom he called “a close friend of the Heritage Foundation.” Others who joined Heritage in its support of Carlson include Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, Steve Bannon and Steven Crowder. Notably, Heritage’s response caused multiple prominent Heritage staffers to depart from the organization.
This contextualizes what boiled over at America Fest — an annual national convention featuring the largest conservative stars and pundits. As the first on stage, Shapiro did not hold punches. He denounced right-wing antisemitism and conspiratorial ideology. He explicitly condemned Owens, Carlson and Steve Bannon as “frauds and grifters,” and he denounced others, including Kelly, as “guilty of cowardice.”
Shapiro’s speech invited every other speaker — many of whom he called out by name — to address his assertions. Bannon called Shapiro “a cancer” and labeled him “the farthest thing from MAGA.” Kelly similarly positioned Shapiro as an outsider: “I found it kinda funny that Ben thinks he has the power to decide who gets excommunicated from the conservative movement,” she stated, “[it] shows willful blindness to his position in it.” Carlson laughed off Shapiro as “pompous” and instead of addressing his concerns, he decried “anti-white” hatred “promoted by the ADL” as the real bigotry more prolific than antisemitism.
Owens, who did not attend the event, dedicated her next podcast episode to denouncing Shapiro and spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories. Like Carlson, Owens frequently ranks at the top of podcast charts and garners millions of listeners per episode. She labeled Shapiro “a snake” — a common antisemitic trope — and accused Jews of being “contract lords” and worshippers of the demon “Baal Berith.” She finished her podcast by making unsubstantiated claims that “Talmudic Jews” founded the slave trade. “I challenge black Americans to wake up to your true history because your quarrel is not with white men,” said Owens. “Wake up and learn the true history of slavery because that wasn’t exactly a white man’s sport. Jewish people were the ones who were trading with us. Jewish people were in control of the slave trade.”
The most disturbing speech was delivered by J.D. Vance — the heir apparent to MAGA. Vance unequivocally defended Carlson from Shapiro’s “endless self-defeating purity tests.” This defense mimicked Vance’s dismissal of bipartisan outrage over racist and antisemitic messages leaked from a Young Republicans group chat. Members in the chat, who were ages 18 to 40, expressed affinity for Hitler and espoused racism and misogyny. Vance decried the outraged response as “pearl clutching.”
Vance’s defense of the Fuentes interview is particularly telling of his antisemitic leanings, since Fuentes has labeled Vance a race traitor and called his wife Usha, who is Indian, a racial slur. However, we can make sense of it given the widely reported fact that Carlson was responsible for Vance’s nomination to the Vice Presidency. This in itself speaks broadly about the MAGA movement: antisemites, and their enablers like Vance, are the future.
Another factor which portends a poor relationship between MAGA and Jews is cited by American Conservative writer Rod Dreher. “Between 30 and 40% of Republican staffers in Washington under the age of 30 are followers of Fuentes,” he wrote. The precise accuracy of this figure is incidental — anecdotal evidence has consistently demonstrated the strong affinity young MAGA leaders have for the alt-right.
Nothing demonstrates this affinity more starkly than an interview conducted by 22-year-old Bryce Crawford with the leader of the Ku Klux Klan, Thomas Robb. While Crawford — who has almost 800,000 YouTube subscribers — gently pushed back on some of Robb’s racist views, he also expressed his “love” for the leader and his belief that he is a “kind gentle human.” Crawford did not challenge the KKK leader’s claim that “national media is controlled by Jews” and that modern Jews are descendants from the Khazars. He even echoed the antisemitic assertion that “pornography is a Jewish institution.” Crawford, like many MAGA influencers, uses his platform to make antisemitism and racism more palatable.
Joe Rogan, the largest podcaster in the world, has also promoted ideas of revisionist historians and “9/11 truthers” like Darryl Cooper and Ian Carroll to an audience of tens of millions of viewers. He frankly stated that “The idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous. That’s like saying Italians aren’t into pizza.” The wealthiest man on the planet and the largest MAGA donor has amplified a post accusing the Jewish community of pushing “hatred against whites.”
Finally, MAGA’s architect and founder, President Donald Trump, consistently invokes tropes about Jews and money. Trump labeled Jews who vote for the Democratic Party as “disloyal” and released a campaign email depicting billionaire Soros puppeteering Biden. Moreover, while Trump is happy to verbally disavow antisemitism, he is unwilling to distance himself from antisemites themselves. He famously had dinner with Fuentes and with controversial rapper Ye West immediately after the latter declared that he would go “death con three on Jewish people.” Recently, Trump defended Carlson’s Fuentes interview and hosted the pundit for a one-on-one meeting in the Oval Office, affirming The Times labeling of Carlson as “the most powerful conservative in America.” For Trump, Jews are at best a useful pawn. For his MAGA successors, Jews aren’t even valued as that.
All these examples point to what the Jewish community must realize: The emblems of MAGA ideology, anti-establishmentarianism, isolationism and conspiracism, breed and provide cover for antisemitism. Since Jews disproportionately occupy establishment roles, anti-establishment sentiment engenders questions about their funding and controlling the establishment. Jewish multi-billionaire George Soros has become a prime candidate for this subtle antisemitism, with Vance even denouncing him in his AmFest speech. Moreover, since American Jews disproportionately support and advocate for Israel, MAGA’s isolationism provides a convenient cover for hatred — just look up the original America Firsters Charles Lindbergh and Pat Buchanan. Promoting conspiracy theories naturally targets Jews since Jews are historically the subject of numerous conspiracy theories, and so conspiracism provides a guise for bigotry.
As it turns out, Kelly and Bannon are right: Shapiro and his old-style conservatism are not MAGA. These Reaganite conservatives can be convenient promoters who sanitize MAGA’s true extremist and conspiratorial views, but they are not part of the movement itself. When an ideology breeds antisemitism, when the torch bearers of a movement consistently promote bigotry and when sane voices get pushed out of the party, MAGA’s true colors reveal themselves.
Photo caption: Tucker Carlson speaking at Turning Point USA's America Fest 2025
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
