Tucker Carlson

Tucker Carlson

Tucker Carlson is a dangerous antisemite. Dangerous - not because he would ever physically attack one of us. He probably never did and never would.  He might even condemn things like the Tree of Life massacre of 11 Jews. But he is clever and insidious. He knows how to attack Jews while denying it. 

So a subtle antisemitic comment about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy persecuting Christians will not go unnoticed by White Suprmecists and other Jew haters of the world. It feeds their antisemitism. Addionally, a comment like this, said almost in passing by a popular media figure will have a negative impact even on people who have never been amtisemitites. 

Carelson’s influence massive. His followers are mostly MAGA  Republicans who are blinded to all of Trumps flaws seeing him unfairly persecuted by a liberal media that hates him - and will say and do anything to do him in.  Carelson’s fans hang on his every word. He has been one of Trump’s biggest supporters. And what he says about the media and Trump is seen by his fans as gospel. 

Even though Carlson has been proven to be a bold faced liar whose support of Trump was based on ratings - privately saying that he couldn’t stand the guy.  Those lies resulted in a successful lawsuit agaisnt his network Fox News.  That led to he being fired faster than a New York minute even though his show was highest rated program on Fox News, the highest rated network on cable , 

Carlson has resurfaced on Twitter with 10 minute opinion pieces where the abovementioned antisemitic comment was made. It was part of his typical twisted view that tends to favor the Russian narrative about their attack against Ukraine.

I did not gloss over that comment. To say that the Jewish President of Christian country persecutes Christians is of a piece with the worst canards against the Jews throughout history. Blaming the Jews for all things bad was a common practice in pre Holocaust Europe. And likely contributed to Hitler’s final solution of exterminating the Jewish people. 

This is not to say that I don’t have issues with Ukraine's history of rabid antisemitism. It was very real and very deadly. Both my father and  my father in law grew up in pre Holocaust Ukraine. Both of them say that Ukrainian Jew hatred was worse than that of Nazi Germany. An antisemitism that was released in its full glory upon being occupied.

I will never forget my brother Jack’s relating what he witnessed almost immediately upon the Nazi occupation. A Jewish family went missing and after a few days he went out looking for them in the forest . He found them all dead - hacked to pieces. The Nazi occupiers had not yet reached the Jewish homes. The perpetrators of that savage act were his Christian neighbors. My brother had nightmares about that until his dying day.

But the Ukraine of pre-Holocaust Europe is not the Ukraine of today. The combination of Vatican II and the liberalization of the Ukrainian people who are not as religious as their parents and grandparents has made this country a lot more tolerant of difference. Which is why they could elect a Jewish actor their President. Something their ancestors would have never done

Back to Carlson. To say that Zelenskyy  persecutes Christians is ridiculous, Yes, he was born a Jew and will remain a Jew no matter what he does. True he identifies as a Jew. But he has otherwise all but abandoned every vestige of his Jewish identity. There is no greater indication of that than his marriage to a Christian woman - in a church; baptizing his children; and then raising them as Christians.  But that didn’t stop Carlson from taking an antisemitc potshot at him. 

I bring all this up after having a conversation recently with some young Charedim  (in their early 20s) who are huge MAGA  fans. I was shocked to see them defending, not only Trump - but Carlson as well. Even  agreeing with him about Zelenskyy persecuting Christians.

Not that I am surprised that there are so many Orthodox Jews that are MAGA Republicans. Sadly, I am well aware of it. They see Trump as their hero for a variety of reasons that are beyond the scope of this post. Same as White Supremicts do for obviously opposite reasons. When a popular media figure like Carlson supports their man, they are going to believe every word he says and dismiss an antisemitic comment - explaining why it really isn’t.

It may be futile to try to convince my fellow Orthodox  co-religionists about Carlson’s antisemitism or to try and disabuse them of their support for Trump. But it needed to be said nonetheless - and I said it. 

They need to wake up from their foolish fetish with Trump and his sycophantic supporters in the right wing media and see the truth for what it is.