{"id":15140,"date":"2025-11-02T12:16:54","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T12:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/gop-leaders-denounce-antisemitism-in-their-ranks-but-shift-blame-to-democrats\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T12:16:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T12:16:54","slug":"gop-leaders-denounce-antisemitism-in-their-ranks-but-shift-blame-to-democrats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/gop-leaders-denounce-antisemitism-in-their-ranks-but-shift-blame-to-democrats\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP leaders denounce antisemitism in their ranks but shift blame to Democrats"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

LAS VEGAS \u2014 Republican Jews acknowledged antisemitism is cropping up in their movement during a conference this weekend, but were quick to blame left-leaning Democrats for fanning the flames.<\/p>\n

At the Republican Jewish Coalition leadership summit, a string of recent high-profile antisemitic incidents \u2014 including a skirmish this week featuring Tucker Carlson and the Heritage Foundation<\/u><\/a> \u2014 cast a long shadow. Even as many speakers denounced antisemitism among conservatives and said the GOP must root it out, nearly all their condemnations were quickly qualified by criticism of Democrats.<\/p>\n

\u201cRepublicans have a cold, and Democrats have a fever,\u201d Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary and RJC board member, told reporters. \u201cAnd Republicans are fighting the cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group’s summit, held annually at The Venetian Expo, the late casino magnate and GOP donor Sheldon Adelson\u2019s convention center, occurs this year as the Republican Party is facing a barrage of pro-Nazi and pro-Hitler incidents within its ranks. Last month, a nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel withdrew his nomination after bragging of his \u201cNazi streak\u201d<\/u><\/a> in a text message; days earlier, Blue Light News reported on a leaked group chat<\/u><\/a> of Young Republicans who praised Hitler and joked about the Holocaust. The same week, a Nazi symbol was discovered hanging in a GOP Congressional office<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Then, this week, Carlson hosted Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes on his podcast; the guest claimed the \u201cbig challenge\u201d to unifying the country was \u201corganized Jewry.\u201d Carlson, a former Fox News host who retains a large following, said Republican Israel supporters suffer from a \u201cbrain virus.\u201d<\/p>\n

RJC speakers took aim at Carlson starting on the conference\u2019s opening night. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Thursday he has \u201cseen more antisemitism on the right\u201d in the past six months \u201cthan I have in my entire life.\u201d<\/p>\n

“If you sit there with someone who says Adolf Hitler was very, very cool, and that their mission is to combat and defeat global Jewry, and you say nothing, then you are (a) coward and you are complicit in that evil,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n

But many speakers downplayed the concern, saying antisemitism is relegated to the fringes of the GOP.<\/p>\n

Matt Brooks, CEO of the hosting organization, told reports that antisemitism is \u201ca very small, limited problem in our party.\u201d On Saturday, RJC staffers gave attendees large placards reading \u201cTUCKER IS NOT MAGA\u201d to wave, suggesting that Carlson\u2019s antisemitic views stand apart from the GOP mainstream. Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), the longest serving Republican Jew in Congress, emphasized in his speech that antisemitism is an issue on the \u201cfringes\u201d of the Republican Party, and suggested that legacy conservative institutions like the Heritage Foundation are removed from the party\u2019s mainstream.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeritage has to decide whether, in fact, they’re going to be a serious conservative movement and think tank and resource for all of us, or whether they’re going to pray to the fringes,\u201d Kustoff said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Even Rep. Randy Fine (R-Florida), who denounced Carlson as \u201cthe most dangerous antisemite in America\u201d in his speech, said in an interview that antisemitism is \u201cstill on the fringes\u201d in his party.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if we don’t deal with it, it could metastasize, like we’ve seen with the Democrats,\u201d Fine said. \u201cAnd I’m not willing to be a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The string of antisemitic incidents among Republicans in recent weeks has caused some top Jewish GOP donors to double down. “Antisemitism isn\u2019t a ‘right-wing’ problem \u2014 it\u2019s a human one, festering across the spectrum,\u201d said Y. David Scharf, a GOP megadonor and grandson of Holocaust survivors. He noted the incidents \u201cdon\u2019t shake my support for the RNC or GOP candidates \u2014 they fuel it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe party\u2019s swift suspension<\/u><\/a> of that Young Republicans chapter shows accountability,\u201d he added. \u201cI will back those who fight hate decisively.”<\/p>\n

Even so, the antisemitic incidents have yet to garner explicit condemnations from President Donald Trump or Vice President J.D. Vance, a fact RJC officials and Republican lawmakers downplayed in interviews. \u201cThis is a decision every elected official gets to make,\u201d Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) told reporters, when asked about Vance\u2019s dismissal<\/u><\/a> of Young Republicans\u2019 rhetoric as \u201cedgy, offensive jokes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the Republican Party stands for Israel. I believe we stand against antisemitism,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n

Unless Trump, Vance and other Republican leaders condemn the incidents, it will only continue to fester, said Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America. \u201cIf the president himself and Republicans were serious about combating antisemitism, they would condemn it when it emerges in their own ranks. And they do not,\u201d Soifer said in an interview last week. \u201cThere’s a permission structure within the Republican Party, and it comes from the top.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe Gruters, the chair of the Republican National Committee, mentioned antisemitism nine times throughout his speech Saturday, all in reference to universities or the political left. \u201cAntisemitism has found a home in the Democrat Party,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) agreed, adding, \u201cLet’s face it: Antisemitism is running wild on the progressive left,\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the highest ranking Jewish senator, encouraged Republicans to look inward, writing<\/u><\/a> on social media Thursday, \u201cEvery person who has aligned itself with the Heritage Foundation, including elected officials, must disavow this dangerous mainstreaming of these hateful ideologies.”<\/p>\n

CORRECTION: Matt Brooks’ name was incorrect in an earlier version of this article.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LAS VEGAS \u2014 Republican Jews acknowledged antisemitism is cropping up in their movement during a conference this weekend, but were quick to blame left-leaning Democrats for fanning the flames. At the Republican Jewish Coalition leadership summit, a string of recent high-profile antisemitic incidents \u2014 including a skirmish this week featuring Tucker Carlson and the Heritage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15140\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}