Tucker Carlson Accused of Going ‘Full On Antisemite’ In Interview With Candace Owens
Tucker Carlson’s sit-down interview with Candace Owens raised eyebrows on Wednesday night as the former Fox News host received an avalanche of criticism for promoting what critics saw as several anti-Semitic tropes.
At one point during the conversation, Tucker said, “I was horrified by what happened on October 7th.”
“Seems pretty strange. I don’t understand how it happened, but innocents died and that’s awful,” he added in his usual conspiratorial tone.
“And I hated watching that. And I feel so sorry for the Israelis who were killed. However, there’s an emotional response that is disproportionate, I think, on the part of some commentators. I mean, our country is being invaded right now by millions of young men whose identities we don’t know, probably don’t even like America. And they’re not living here. Over 100,000 Americans die every year of fentanyl. I’ve known a couple. Those are real tragedies,” he continued, adding:
I’ve never seen anything like the emotion from any commentator around those tragedies as I’m watching about a foreign tragedy, I think that’s odd.
Journalist Lahav Harkov shared a clip of Carlson’s comment and replied, “This is Tucker’s manipulative way of saying that Jews have dual loyalties. He’s just asking questions!”
“Never mind that 31 Americans were killed by Hamas on Oct. 7, and nine – including a 3-year-old – are being held hostage in Gaza. More important to drive a wedge between Jews and other Americans,” Harkov added.
Carlson’s conversation comes as Owens and Ben Shapiro, the founder of the Daily Wire (where Owens works), are feuding over her recent comments regarding Israel, which resulted in Owens calling Shapiro “emotionally unhinged.”
When asked what was anti-Semitic about Carlson’s comment, Anthony Koch argued, “This is quite clearly a ‘Ben Shapiro cares more about Israel than he does America’ type comment.”
Journalist Daniella Greenbaum Davis added, “What @TuckerCarlson is doing here is suggesting, as @RealCandaceO nods, that somehow Jewish people are less American by being distraught over October 7th. What he may not realize is it actually makes us *more* American.”
Carlson’s interview also received scorn when he claimed that pro-Israel donors to U.S. universities have been funding “white genocide” for years.
“If the biggest donors at say, Harvard have decided, well, we’re going to shut it down now, where were you the last ten years when they were calling for white genocide. You were allowing this. And then I found myself really hating those people, actually, that you’re okay with that? On what grounds were you okay with that?” Carlson fumed.
“And this is what I have been trying to explain to the pro-Israel lobby that what you are seeing is lack of support, is people that are asking the question is, where were you? As we have endured, all of this?” Owens quickly agreed.
“You were paying for it, actually. You were paying for it,” Carlson declared.
Journalist Elad Nehorai slammed the exchange, writing, “Tucker Carlson goes full on antisemite, claiming that rich Jews are funding the completely ‘white genocide’ while only caring about Israel. This is the kind of stuff you used to only read on 4chan and Stormfront. Now it’s everywhere.”
“This is adjacent to Musk’s Great Replacement conspiracy theory. One thing it borrows from the far more extreme right, however, is the idea that Jews represent the worst of both the left and the right: In their minds, we are multiculturalist Marxists & also right wing tribalists,” Nehorai added.
https://twitter.com/EladNehorai/status/1725007941718483421
“It’s been out in the open for so long that far too many people are just totally numb to it,” replied the Washington Post’s Ishaan Tharoor.
Below are some additional reactions to Carlson’s interview from across the political spectrum:
Hamas killed 31 American citizens. Terrorists are holding at least 12 American hostages.
Tucker Carlson refers only to “Israelis killed”, as a “foreign tragedy”, while Candace Owens nods in agreement.
Apparently, they don’t count Jews as Americans.pic.twitter.com/DPYjaUmN3r
— Gabe Hoffman (@GabeHoff) November 16, 2023
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