The Two Antisemitisms and their Threat to America
At TPUSA, Tucker Carlson cemented his position as the leading antisemitic conspiracist of the right. You cannot be America First and follow him down that path.
I just attended TPUSA in Tampa. My overall view of the organization is unchanged: It’s mostly great people doing terrific work, but it’s terrible at vetting. The overwhelmingly impressive list of speakers was indelibly tarred by the worst type of antisemitic garbage.
Tucker Carlson, who seems intent upon becoming the twenty-first century’s answer to Father Coughlin, spewed unadulterated conspiratorial antisemitism. As is his style, he expressed genuine confusion about a number of issues. If not for Jewish influence: Why would anyone see Iran—which has led daily nationwide chants of “death to America” since 1979—as an enemy state? Has any American ever been hurt by a Shiite terrorist? Is anyone really concerned about Qatar—the foreign nation pouring more money in American universities and politics than anyone but China—and why would anyone think it’s trying to influence America? And can you believe that some people call him an antisemite? Antisemitism, what even is that?
That last question that seems to cause the most confusion. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) has derived and illustrated a definition sufficiently crisp and formal to have been adopted as the legal standard in many countries. Most people, however, don’t need quite that level of formality.
There are two distinct types of antisemitism. It’s important to keep them straight because they have very different implications.
Social Antisemitism is standard bigotry, directed at Jews. We’ve got a full range of civil rights laws geared towards differentiating between offensive opinions Americans are free to hold and illegal discriminatory practices.
The Trump Justice Department, under the leadership of AG Pam Bondi, AAG for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, and Senior Counsel Leo Terrell, has been doing phenomenal work on this front. Far too few Jews are comfortable admitting that antisemitism has become the most important civil rights issue in America today—and disturbingly many American Jews also suffer from TDS. As a result, this stellar team will likely never get the thanks and appreciation it deserves—other than perhaps from yours truly.
Conspiratorial Antisemitism is a unique hatred—and likely the reason that so many people find antisemitism confusing. It has no counterpart among the world’s all-too-many hatreds. It’s precisely what Tucker Carlson and his ilk are peddling. And it’s far more dangerous than social antisemitism.
A society can function with bigotry. It cannot function with conspiracism. In fact, bigoted societies have been the historical norm; we are the exception. Societies featuring deep-seated discrimination have lasted for centuries. Conspiracist societies are lucky to make it to a second decade.
Conspiracy theory is a crippling mental illness at both the individual and the societal levels. It erodes any sense of personal responsibility and magnifies distrust. Conspiracy theorists begin by sidelining those they blame for whatever problems plague them. When that fails to make things better, they go after sympathizers. When that too fails, they take it as proof that the puppetmasters are deep in the shadows and turn against anyone whose behavior they choose to question. We see it today, as allegedly “America First” conspiracists turn against Trump and Bondi.
For myriad complex reasons, all conspiracy theories end with the Jews. It doesn’t matter what the problem may be or who the mobs target first. Somehow or another, the conclusion is always that the Jews are to blame. Which brings me back to Tucker Carlson.
For whatever reason, the crowd—or at least the speakers—at TPUSA—seemed to feel that the DoJ’s bungled messaging on the Jeffrey Epstein case is the single most important issue facing America today. I can debate that another day, but people will discuss what they want to discuss. And yes, AG Bondi now denies the existence of what she previously promised to deliver. There’s little doubt that Epstein was a sleazebag with prominent and powerful connections whose entire case seems suspicious. Something stinks. It’s hardly unreasonable to wonder what it might be.
Occam’s razor suggests that Epstein blackmailed the rich-and-powerful to achieve both great wealth and protection from the full brunt of law enforcement—to the extent that any evidence implicating his victims was either hidden or destroyed long ago.
To antisemitic conspiracy theorists like Tucker, however, there’s an even more obvious explanation: Epstein was working for an intelligence service (despite the absence of evidence). It was not the CIA (though it’s unclear why), but rather a foreign intelligence service (again, why?). And given that he was working for a foreign intelligence service, it was certainly the Mossad (Because, who else?)
Evidence? Well, Former Israeli PM Ehud Barak was Epstein’s houseguest. Why might that be if not for a Mossad connection?
Here’s a possibility: Because that’s how Epstein operated!
Epstein’s known associates included—to pick four examples—Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Ehud Barak, and Prince Andrew. We can thus conclude that Clinton, Gates, and the Prince were blackmail victims while Barak was his Mossad handler. Why would we reach that conclusion? Because, as Tucker would explain, it’s not so much a conclusion as a question.
That’s how conspiratorial antisemitism works. There’s no evidence of an intelligence connection, much less a foreign one, but if there were, it might explain a great deal. And who might the handler have been? Obviously, the Jew. Who else?
Now, do I believe that the Mossad is the first intelligence service in history to forego the use of the Honey Trap? Probably not. So what? And if a foreign government did run an intel operation using American citizens, on American soil, blackmailing American political and business leaders, why would anyone believe that it could control the inner workings of American law enforcement agencies to bury the story?
Only because it’s the Jewish State.
Longtime observers of such things might note that Jonathan Pollard, arrested in the 1980s for spying for Israel, was railroaded into receiving a far harsher sentence than had anyone else arrested on comparable charges. Yet somehow, Israel, unlike any other foreign government so caught, also controls the inner working of American law enforcement?
And this story seems more plausible than a guy who threw a good party and blackmailed his way to wealth?
Only in the minds of antisemitic conspiracists.
Over the past two years, Tucker Carlson has spun out one antisemitic conspiracy theory after another—most recently blaming Israel for trying to start WWIII and drag the U.S. into a prolonged invasion and occupation.
He’s unhinged.
Yet he’s deeply popular among parts of the American public whose support has helped put President Trump into a position in which he can and has done so much good.
He’s a clear and present danger—and he’s not alone.
Over those same two years, antisemitic conspiracism has become the dominant organizing theme of the Democratic Party. It’s what impelled Zohran Mamdani to the Democratic nomination for NYC Mayor.
We cannot allow it to gain a foothold on the right.
The United States is a strong, remarkable, and unique country—now under inspired leadership. But it’s not invulnerable. Conspiracy-theoretic Jew hatred has brought down great societies before. We cannot let it bring down ours.
If you believe that it’s possible to harbor antisemitic conspiracy theories while still considering yourself “America First,” you’re suffering from a mental illness far more pernicious than TDS.
For more information about Bruce D. Abramson & American Restorationism, visit: www.BruceDAbramson.com
To learn more about America’s Spiritual Crisis and the new religion of Wokeism, see: American Spirit or Great Awokening? The Battle to Restore or Destroy Our Nation (Academica Press, 2024).
To learn more about how America’s elites destroyed the republic, see: The New Civil War: Exposing Elites, Fighting Utopian Leftism, and Restoring America (RealClear Publishing, 2021).
To learn more about the ideology driving today’s anti-American leftism, see: American Restoration: Winning America’s Second Civil War (Kindle, 2019).
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Frankly, I think Tucker Carlson's ego has self-inflated past his point of usefulness. 👎
Delineating the two antisemitic paradigms makes this article a gem and one that courses should be taught around. Once again, your writing is brilliant Dr. Abramson, thank you for all that you do.