Skip to content

Antisemitism is going mainstream on the right

Published on 79 Comments on Antisemitism is going mainstream on the right

A couple of days ago a Random Guy on Twitter (RGOT) wrote that "Jewish communities" have been pushing "hatred against whites." Nobody would much care about this RGOT except that Elon Musk immediately replied, "You have said the actual truth."

Now, Musk has a beef with the ADL, so maybe he was just venting about that without thinking things through? But no. Later he clarified that although anti-white hatred doesn't extend to all Jewish communities, it's "not just limited to the ADL."

This is appalling, but still, it's just one guy. Until yesterday, that is, when Tucker Carlson chimed in, saying that rich Jewish donors have been backing "white genocide" for over a decade.

Charlie Kirk also jumped in to defend Musk. "Jewish communities," he said, "have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them." Then, just to make himself extra clear, he added this: "Tucker Carlson is  completely correct by saying this, that the philosophical foundation of anti-whiteness has been largely financed by Jewish donors in this country."

These are mainstream folks, not alt-right white supremacists who can be dismissed as not part of the core Republican brand. And no one on the right is criticizing them. Just the opposite. Ben Shapiro, while acknowledging that the original RGOT tweet was "wildly overbroad," said that Musk was just "reading the term 'Jewish communities' and instead seeing the letters ADL"—which is obviously not the case. Besides, he said, liberals are hypocrites, so their criticism of Musk shouldn't be taken seriously.

And Ron DeSantis, who teamed up with Musk to announce his presidential run a few months ago? Crickets.

There are thousands of young progressive college students who are protesting vigorously in support of the Palestinian cause right now. I consider these protests generally ignorant of history, but it's nonetheless clear that they're aimed at defending an oppressed community from a powerful neighbor. They hate Israeli policies, but they've mostly said nothing to suggest they therefore hate Jews in general.

Things are different on the right. The anti-semitic pastor John Hagee is welcomed in conservative circles. A prominent donor in Texas met with famous antisemite Nick Fuentes and most Texas Republicans defended him. Elon Musk uttered some plain antisemitic sentiments, and so far Republicans have either defended him or kept silent.

Antisemitism is going mainstream on the right and no one seems to feel any urgency to put a stop to it. We've already seen how that kind of cowardice played out with Donald Trump. We don't need a repeat.

79 thoughts on “Antisemitism is going mainstream on the right”

  1. gibba-mang

    The Right sees this as a wedge issue to lessen support for Dems and Biden. I do think it could hurt enthusiasm and turnout if this drags until next year but I'm hoping that Biden calls for Bibi to step down. I don't see that happening this year but perhaps next year.

    1. kahner

      Biden's support for Israel and it's invasion could be a wedge issue, but this outright antisemitism isn't. I think it's more a combination of the actual antisemitism of musk and many other prominent right-wing leaders and an effort to curry favor with the neo-nazis and nazi adjacent base voters.

      1. gibba-mang

        Don't forget that Republicans are willing to burn the whole thing down including outright anti Semitism if it gets them elected

        1. MattBallAZ

          The WI / PA swing voter won't hear anything about this antisemitism. And the now-pro-bin-Laden lefties won't care or will like it.
          Hate drives these days.

  2. name99

    Everyone is reaping what they sowed.

    On the one hand, Israel has claimed since at least the 80s that criticism of specific political policies is anti-semitism. It's hard, with that particular history, to look at many of these claims of anti-semitism now with much sympathy. Are they different from the 80s claims, or just Cry Wolf? Most of us have better things to do than investigate such a question.

    On the other hand, it's been true since at least the early Bolshevik days that jews (for whatever reason; I think it's more a pathology of there being more "superficially intelligent", say 1SD, jews than anything inherent in Judaism per se) have been overrepresented in leftism, including now in its current Woke version.
    It's both true that the current version of leftism these particular jews support is primarily about criticism white people and european culture, and that this was inevitably going to result in backlash against them.
    You want to play footsie with a set of ideas that demonize the other and insist that they are responsible for all the pathologies of modern society? WHERE THE FSCK DID YOU THINK THIS WAS GOING TO LEAD???

    Or to put it differently, would you be OK if woke started pushing the line that an excess of slave merchants were jewish? That slave financing was substantially jewish? Would you be surprised to see these claims starting to emerge?

    So yeah, a plague on both your houses. Not very admirable behavior by the right; but reminding people that demonizing the other is never going to end well is something society as a whole, including the woke elements, needs to hear.

    "They hate Israeli policies, but they've mostly said nothing to suggest they therefore hate Jews in general."
    Hmm, depends on which feeds you look at. If you don't think support for "from the river to the sea" is anti-semitic, how exactly DO you imagine such a policy to be impemented? Riffle through the early Nazi playbook and ship them all to Madagascar? Or the Yukon? Or Brazil?

      1. name99

        Perhaps it's not trolling? Perhaps it's exactly what it claims to be, a set of examples of how everyone involved in this sorry situation is extremely culpable?

        I know that's hard for you to believe, that some people see things through non-tribal eyes. Hard for you to believe, or IMPOSSIBLE for you to believe? I guess we'll see.

    2. name99

      BTW in Los Angeles I've been seeing a billboard for at least a year (in other words long before the current Israeli-Hamas war) saying
      "Being woke and antisemitic is like being a vegan who eats meat."

      At least some people appear to have seen the rising tide of anti-semitism within woke over the past few years.

    5. kenalovell

      A paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic. Learning to write good paragraphs will help you as a writer stay on track during your drafting and revision stages. Good paragraphing also greatly assists your readers in following a piece of writing. You can have fantastic ideas, but if those ideas aren't presented in an organized fashion, you will lose your readers (and fail to achieve your goals in writing). https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/paragraphs_and_paragraphing/index.html

  3. lower-case

    antisemitism on the right has been mainstream for quite a while; it's just they're saying the quiet part out loud now

    more recently, remember 'good people on both sides' and the chanting of 'jews will not replace us'?

  4. cld

    I will bet that most people who vote for Republicans don't know any Jews, or, if they do, know or have met them only in the most incidental way.

    So to them antisemtism is all another breeze blowing in Imaginationland.

  5. jdubs

    Immigrants, Muslims, liberals, Chinese, women of childbearing age, transgenders, and now Jews..... who will the White Power party want to round up next?

    3. Austin

      The Catholics, because they generally are poorer and puts lots of "burdens" on the government to spend money on education and social services for families they cannot economically support on their own. There's a reason why, in the whitest communities, the Protestants still look askance at the Catholics... they're all "white" but to paraphrase Animal Farm, some of us are whiter ("more equal") than others.

      1. RZM

        Oh that this were limited to the Protestants. In my neck of the woods (eastern Massachusetts) some of the whitest of white bigots are Catholics and their numbers aren't small. Happily they are outnumbered by a larger group of liberals who more truly define our state.

  6. MindGame

    This anti-semitism is basically another variation on Replacement Theory, which now has seeped into nearly every corner of GOP ideology.

  7. Brett

    Musk seems to be going through the full Henry Ford life cycle, including aging into a reactionary, anti-semitic crank in his fifties and being at odds with his oldest child.

  8. iamr4man

    Implicit in these comments that Jews are pushing anti-white hatred is the belief that Jewish people aren’t white. People who make these comments should be confronted with that and asked if when they say “white” what they really mean is white Christians. Because it is what they mean.

    1. lawnorder

      That was my puzzle. I am aware there is a group of black Jews in or from what used to be Ethiopia, but all the Jews I've ever met were white.

      2. Altoid

        I'm so old I remember when the overt antisemites used to talk about "Mud People," meaning Jews and black people and probably some others. I believe that was during Clinton's terms (for some reason having Ds in the White House seems to be an antisemitism trigger in more ordinary times).

        @golack is right; there's never been a stable understanding of who's "white." If you go back to the 19C, most immigrant groups that are now thought to be "white people" weren't considered "white" when they first arrived (famously, Irish immigrants), and neither were most Catholics wherever they were from (they've only been fully accepted as "white" since sometime after JFK and Vatican II). Armenians were acceptable as white after a famous 1909 court case (In re Halladjian, federal circuit court in Boston) which had to be affirmed in 1925, around the height of that era's nativism, after a West Coast prosecutor sued to have an immigrant's citizenship removed on the grounds that he wasn't white (US v Cartozian, 9th circuit). And even before independence, Franklin didn't consider German immigrants in PA as white, at least for a time.

        And being accepted as "white" isn't a one-way street-- it can be revoked. If Mike Johnson and his New Apostolic Reformation buddies have their way, only a small sliver of millennarian Christians will be considered white-- a much smaller group than even the OP means.

    2. James B. Shearer

      "Implicit in these comments that Jews are pushing anti-white hatred is the belief that Jewish people aren’t white. ..."

      Not in all cases. Some people think Jews have deluded themselves into believing they aren't (and/or aren't seen as) white and will not suffer from the anti-white hatred they are pushing.

          1. iamr4man

            Ok. But I’ve never known a Jewish person who pushed anti-white hatred or saw themselves as exempt from hatred for any reason.

            1. James B. Shearer

              "Sailer, Unz, Podhoretz. Exactly what Drum termed ‘nutpicking’."

              Not in the case of Sailer as he is far from the nuttiest person to hold his general views.

  9. cephalopod

    Maybe there just aren't that many people who actually care about anti-semitic rhetoric. They have other, more important issues they would rather focus on. Musk's anti-semitic views align well with the immigration policy that is favored on the right, so many may be happy to let it slide - it will attract some more votes, after all.

      1. KJK

        He sure seems like a card carrying antisemitic Christian Nationalist to me. I assume they support Israel primarily because of the prophesy relating to the second coming of JC, and they need the Jews to keep the lights on in Jerusalem (and the Muslims out) until that time.

        I prefer all the antisemitism to be out in the open where I can see it. Musk may lose a few Tesla sales because of it.

          1. civiltwilight

            So - is that what you are doing? Pretending not to be racist. Or are you a POC who thinks all white people are racist?

        2. Anandakos

          Yes, it's delicious every time one of them dies without being "Raptured". Their hope of Heaven With A Body is thereby Ruptured. No mo "Gonna Walk All Over God's Heaven"!

          I think we can all agree that Gawd is NOT gonna' speed up the timetable for Old Jowly.

    3. civiltwilight

      No,
      he
      is
      not an anti-semite. I am not the fool here. I read all the links posted by TheMelancholyDonkey. BTW You missed at least article: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/who-is-pastor-john-hagee-alleged-antisemitic-christian-zionist-raises-questions-online-after-speaking-at-march-for-israel-rally/ar-AA1k0AjS.
      I loved the phrase “Alleged antisemitic Christian Zionist” from the title.

      I listened to Hagee’s sermons. Two from post-Oct 7th and two from when he was a younger man. He loves Israel. Hagee makes it clear that God loves Israel. If you are not ignorant of the. Bible, you will know that the Bible says God punished Israel. It isn’t anti-Semitic. It is a belief that goes alongside the belief that the Jews are special to God.

      I find it amazing the Jews have managed to remain a distinct ethnic group after 2000 years of not having a country and being kicked out of just about everywhere.

      Pastor Hagee does want that Temple built. The sooner, the better.

      Christian Nationalism is not a code word for anti-semitism or white supremacy Despite what you hear on MSNBC and CNN.

      1. The Big Texan

        The evangelical support of Israel has always been pretextual. They need Jews to be in control of Israel and to rebuild the temple so that Christians can then fulfill a prophecy by finishing what Hitler started - murdering all the Jews. According to evangelicals, Christians will slaughter all but a small number of Jews, and the surviving few will convert to Christianity.

      2. Anandakos

        No, "Christian Nationalism" is a "code word" for Eliminationism. They excitedly want to watch all those Sinner Leftists flailed by the Four Horsemen as they lazily float away to The Golden Sidewalks.

        What a bunch of warped, jealous, bitter people.

        And I grant that in this case what Peter [e.g. "me"] says about Paul [Christian Nationalists] may indeed say as much about me as it does about them......

      3. kkseattle

        Uh, he wants all Jews to be converted to Christianity. Those that don’t, will perish.

        It’s like saying someone loves gays because they can be converted to be straight.

    1. illilillili

      So, you're saying that nearly all European countries are more tolerant than America, where fully 30% of the population are fascist white nationalists...

  12. Citizen99

    And yet, they shovel out talking points about Biden being "weak on Israel" and being having "blood on his hands," meaning he is somehow responsible for Hamas terrorism. The right is simultaneously full of anti-Jewish fanatics while also proclaiming that Israel can do no wrong and the Democrats are the anti-semites.

    And they do this without the slightest concern that the public will see them as self-contradicting hypocrites, because apparently that is not happening.

    1. James B. Shearer

      "And they do this without the slightest concern that the public will see them as self-contradicting hypocrites, because apparently that is not happening."

      The right like the left contains Israel supporters and Israel opponents. No hypocrisy is involved unless it is the same person. Broad coalitions will contain people who disagree about some particular issue.

  13. n1cholas

    Point 0: Israel and Judaism are not the same.

    So, if you want to criticize Israeli policy, it is not the same as being anti-Semitic, or hating Jewish people. I say that first because a lot of people miss this fundamental step and then resulting discussions are apples-to-orange nonsense.

    Point 1: Arabs are Semitic if we're using Semitic as a group of languages. If' we're reserving Semitic for Judaism/Jewish people, then we're getting into racial grouping, which can further confuse things. But, let's just go ahead and use Semitic as Jewish people since that's where most conversations start.

    Point 2: Is anyone surprised that the Nationalist Christian (Nat-C) Party, currently doing business as the Republican Party, is anti-Semitic? Nat-Cs hate Jewish people and Arab people. They both claim the same God as Nat-Cs, and more importantly, the same chunk of desert. And the only reason Nat-Cs want Israel to exist is so that their Nat-C God will come back and destroy it before ushering in a Nat-C socialist utopia... for Nat-Cs only mind you.

    Fascism and anti-Semitism go hand-in-hand. Elon Musk, oligarch shitbag hates him some Jews? No shit. Nat-Cs want a world war in the middle east? Yeah, have you paid attention to what they've been screaming through the bullhorn over the last 30 years?

    Also: if you use the word woke as a verb or adjective, you're clearly a right-wing dipshit no matter how well you think you're hiding it. Ain't no one to the left of Reagan using the word woke.

  14. jeffreycmcmahon

    "There are thousands of young progressive college students who are protesting vigorously in support of the Palestinian cause right now. I consider these protests generally ignorant of history"

    Do you (Kevin Drum) want to maybe elaborate on this? Because it's kind of a blithly shitty thing to say.

    1. golack

      Kevin seems to forget they have been protesting Israel's treatment of Palestinians for a while. The current protests are stupid, as they are being painted as supporting Hamas's goal of eliminating Israel. They should be protesting Hamas's actions plus Hamas's and Israel's treatment of the Palestinian people.

  15. kkseattle

    It’s actually worse than Kevin stated, because RGOT was responding to a challenge to defend the statement “Hitler was right.”

    And Elon praised the response.

  16. ProgressOne

    Most US Jews are white. Would be strange for Jewish donors to consciously give money to promote anti-white thinking.

    On the other hand, I suppose anyone giving money to causes far to the left are funding wokeism of some sort. And wokeism does declare that whites who won’t embrace wokeism are racist, and whites collectively maintain a system of white supremacy at the core of US society. Pretty ugly message, and it’s fair to call this anti-white.

    However, any time you have prominent people promoting stereotypes about a racial or ethnic group, that is not a good sign. It just amplifies prejudices that some in the masses already hold.

  17. illilillili

    > I consider these protests generally ignorant of history

    Because if you look at history, ethnic cleansing and apartheid become defensible?

    1. ProgressOne

      No, it's because many younger people on the left don't really agree that Israel had a right to be founded in the first place. The holocaust is a distant event to them, so the idea that some land should be given to Jews, where they were already 30% of the population, made sense. After the industrial-scale genocide committed against the Jews in the holocaust, allocating some land as a safe haven where Jews would be the majority just seemed the right thing to do.

      Apartheid in South Africa meant some citizens of the country were denied fundamental rights. Since the West Bank and Gaza are not part of Israel, I don't see how the word “apartheid” is a fit for the situation there. Now, if you believe a Jewish state should not exist, and the whole region should just be called Palestine, and all living there should be in a one state with a Muslim majority, I guess that "apartheid" makes sense. This implies the end of rule by Jews and thus the end of Israel. That would end very badly for the Jews there, considering all the hatred of Jews by many Muslims.

      1. James B. Shearer

        "... Since the West Bank and Gaza are not part of Israel, I don't see how the word “apartheid” is a fit for the situation there. ..."

        The West Bank and Gaza were conquered by Israel in 1967 and have been effectively part of Israel ever since. Whether or not Israel has formally annexed them is irrelevant.

        1. ProgressOne

          They are not part of Israel. The West Bank and Gaza are disputed territories. The main long term goal is still to create two states.

          Consider South Africa. South African apartheid laws extended to what is now Namibia. Namibia finally became an independent nation instead of simply being part of the post-apartheid South Africa.

  18. Justin

    I really wish we could distinguish between the black hat orthodox whackos and secular/ ethnic folks. The former are contemptible and the latter just fine. 😂

    1. Salamander

      Heck, we can't even distinguish between the wingnut government of Israel and liberal American Jewry. It's a blessing ... and a curse.

  19. kenalovell

    Just to prove their "both sides" objectivity, right-wingers are indulging in a welter of Islamaphobia unseen since the glory days of 2001/2. From Trump's promise to impose a total ban on Muslim immigration to DeSantis's sneer that Bethlehem "is like a pigsty" because Palestinian Arabs run the city (where do they think they are, San Francisco?) to a universal refusal to consider letting any refugees from Gaza into the country, they are competing to see who can make the most obnoxious comments about Arabs.

  21. pjcamp1905

    Also, I've been disgusted by Republican racism since William F. Buckley. The only thing that has happened recently is that Donald Trump emboldened existing racists to come out of the closet again.

  22. D_Ohrk_E1

    Far right (except Evangelicals) all ages = antisemitism
    Far left youth = anti-Zionism

    We live in weird times where Jews are being threatened by many on both far ends of the political spectrum of America, leading many American Jews -- the same Jews (other than the Orthodox in NY) who were vocally pushing for the 2-state solution -- bewildered, scared, and wondering where now to move their (political) community to.

    We're really fucking up the politics for the 2024 election, bruh. Hope you have alternate campaign donors and a new source of voters.

    1. kkseattle

      Oh, the Evangelicals are antisemites. They support Israel so the Temple can get rebuilt, and then the Jews can be exterminated (or converted to Christianity).

  23. painedumonde

    I'm so late, but Tucker and Charlie aren't mainstream. Right? I mean even Fox found Tucker not fit for their airwaves. And Charlie caters to kids.

    Terminally online folks might think they're mainstream...

Comments are closed.