Back in April, I asked a question: Is
Tucker Carlson a Covert Antisemite? To my mind, there is no question that he
is, but people understand things in different ways. Some want proof rather than
this author’s interpretation of Carlson’s words and deeds.
In a way, that is the point. There likely will never be proof.
This is why I refer to Carlson’s brand of antisemitism as “covert.” It’s slippery
and slimy. It’s about pushing the boundaries as far as he can go without going
over the line. Carlson goes just far enough in what he says, the words just shy
of, “I hate Jews.”
Some Jews are unfortunately too nice. They are not
interested in believing the worst of a person. So, short of Carlson shouting
into a megaphone, “I hate Jews,” the benefit-of-the doubter Jews will doggedly insist
on proof. “Can you prove it?” and since Carlson never leaves much of a
trail, you’ve got no way to do so. Not that I make much effort to persuade
them. Either they do or don’t believe that Tucker Carlson is an antisemite.
Aside from requiring proof of Tucker’s antisemitism, there’s
another factor in play for those who just don’t buy it. Some Jews don’t want to
believe that Tucker is an antisemite because they otherwise agree with his
Conservative politics. Since they agree with Tucker on so many other things,
they pooh-pooh any suggestion that Carlson, at heart, hates Jews.
I noted the same phenomenon when I wrote about RFK
Jr.’s antisemitism. Some readers were upset. They said to me, “Can you
prove it?” and they aren’t even Democrats.
There is irony in the sudden request for proof of
antisemitism in the case of RFK Jr. The same readers challenging me to bring them
cold, hard evidence that Tucker is a Jew-hater, are like me, generally
hypersensitive to antisemitic undertones and nuances. What made them look the
other way from the empirical evidence this time, and hold their nose at the
stench, was RFK Jr.’s stance on vaccination, with which they agree.
To all of these naysayers, I will, unlike Tucker Carlson,
declare myself out and out: Of course I can’t prove it. But that doesn’t mean I
don’t know it.
Tucker Carlson will not be coming out of the Jew-hate closet
any time soon, at least not on purpose. He’ll never say the words out loud. And
some Jews will always insist on his innocence. Even after much proof, such
as a recent Tucker Carlson interview with Douglas Macgregor, a
retired US colonel, about the war in Ukraine, as captured by the Israel
Advocacy Movement.
Macgregor, like Tucker Carlson, understands how to say just
enough to escape any overt accusations of antisemitism. His words hint at hatred
without actually saying the J word out loud. Like here, where all the people Macgregor
references are Jewish:
Tucker Carlson: How would you characterize Zelenskyy?
Douglas Macgregor: He was picked and then blessed by Victoria Nuland and the State Department as their man. Now, when he originally ran for office, he ran on a peace platform. Ukrainians didn't want to go to war with Russia. Of course, once he was in there, he took a different road, and I can't help but think that that road was defined for him by us.
Tucker Carlson: Who is Victoria Nuland?
Douglas Macgregor: Ah, goodness gracious, all these hard questions, Tucker! I do not know Victoria Nuland, personally. I know Fred Kagan, and his brother Bob is married to her and she's a long-term committed neocon. No, I don't think she understands the gravity of the situation. These are the same people. Tony Blinken is in this.
These are people with this agenda and the agenda says until the entire world is garrisoned by US forces and is converted forcibly to some form of democracy that we approve of, uh, the world will not be safe, and we must continue to fight, and I think in in the case of Russia, Russia has special appeal, because I think these people have ancestors who come from that region in the world, and have a permanent ax to grind with the Russians. Now of course, which I don't, and I don't think most Americans do, and nor do I think anybody in the government should shape policy based on whatever unhappiness their ancestors, you know, experienced in a place like Russia.
Tucker then asks Macgregor why both Democrats and
Republicans support Ukraine.
Douglas Macgregor: Well, first of all you've got to go through and identify the donors. What's their background; where did they come from; and why do they feel the way they do? I think there're more personal issues there than we realize with many of them.
Macgregor, this whole time, is talking about Jews. And Tucker
never once calls him out for airing antisemitic conspiracy theories. Tucker
Carlson is quite happy to interview this man and air his views for his
listeners. Why? Is it about freedom of speech?
No. It’s about antisemitism. And no I don’t have proof. You
either see it and believe it or you don’t.
Tucker Carlson is carefully testing antisemitic tropes on his show. https://t.co/hA9vLaEvSQ
— George Yury Revutsky (@george_revutsky) August 22, 2023
We shouldn’t mind the people who don’t want to admit Carlson
is an antisemite because they like his politics. They’re just fooling
themselves. It’s the benefit-of-the-doubter Jews who are worrisome. They are
like the Jews who waited too long to leave Europe, because Hitler and his goose-stepping
fans were not to be taken seriously. They thought that Hitler and his Nazis were just a flash in the pan. Germany
wouldn’t let a Holocaust happen.
By the time these Jews understood that Hitler was not some temporary nuisance but manifestly evil, the gates had already closed and they could not leave. Which is a common theme in Jewish history. Jews don’t want to believe someone can be evil. They won’t believe it until it is absolutely proven—like when they see smoke coming out of an Auschwitz crematorium, or watch people walk into a shower and never come out.
That is far too late.
For Jews, in particular, it is crucial to recognize that some people really are bad. And the last thing you want from them is proof.
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