What Charlie Kirk taught us on fighting antisemitism

Conservatives should have taken note when Charlie Kirk – who was assassinated solely for what he had said on politics and policy – drew a clear line, even at the cost of a public rift with far-right commentator Candace Owens: “Jew hate has no place in civil society. It rots the brain, reject it.” 

The late Kirk’s stance underscores what remains at stake. Prominent voices on the Right are flirting with or fully embracing antisemitic tropes, and too many others remain silent. Conservatives who care about truth, freedom, and the movement’s future should be alarmed. They may represent a small slice of the Right, but we have seen what happens when fringe ideas are left to germinate.  

For decades, conservatives chastised the Left for normalizing radical ideas espoused by once-fringe progressives. As a former Republican Capitol Hill staffer, I’ve witnessed how ideas metastasize when left unchallenged. 

To avoid following the same pattern prominent progressive voices used to normalize antisemitism and anti-Zionism in much of the Democratic Party, conservatives should disavow Carlson, Owens, and their peers before it is too late.

I’ve seen this play out before. Democrats ignored the margins of their party for years, dismissing radical rhetoric as “just a few loud voices” that spread unchecked and amplified by social media. 

Antisemitism dressed up as “anti-Zionism” is no longer an outlier on the Left, it’s mainstream. The warning is clear: if conservatives fail to draw a line, they risk repeating the same mistakes.

When Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a Senate resolution to block U.S. arms sales to Israel, 27 Democratic senators, over half the caucus, signed on. Until recently, his anti-Israel resolutions drew only a few votes.

In 2020, candidate Joe Biden rejected the premise of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, stating that “too often that criticism from the Left morphs into antisemitism.”

But the Overton Window has now shifted so much that even a relative moderate like Pete Buttigieg had to walk back once-consensus Democratic positions.

Radical progressives now shape the image of the Democratic Party. A decade ago, few imagined Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib would define Democrats. Today, they are the party. 

The GOP isn’t immune. MAGA-adjacent influencers are leading conservatives down the same troubling path as progressives. We still have time, but the wrong turn could end the conservative movement. Charlie Kirk epitomized civil debate, especially on emotionally charged issues. By engaging directly, he showed that divisions are often smaller than they appear once stripped of the broad platitudes that dominate headlines but obscure nuance.

Fortunately, there are signs of resistance. At a recent Hudson Institute conversation, Deputy Assistant to the President Sebastian Gorka warned that voices like Carlson’s and his ilk were fueling a beast that cannot be ignored. 

Across the Christian world, several organizations have mobilized pastors and lay leaders to confront lies, refute deceptions, and stand firm with Israel and the truth. When Christian groups rallied after October 7th for Israel’s right to defend itself, they demonstrated the power of rapid, coordinated action. 

Yet when Carlson promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories on air and Owens trafficked in anti-Israel rhetoric, pushback on the Right was muted. More rational, reasonable, and prominent voices are needed to thwart Carlson’s reach. 

Meeting this challenge requires conservatives to reclaim the moral high ground. Adherence to truth, justice, and reason is the cornerstone of conservative philosophy. Israel is the most prominent display of the distortion of these principles, but it won’t stop there. 

That is why the conservative movement needs to rapidly respond to lies when they are told, and respected influencers must be willing to use their platforms to shed light before the darkness sets in. 

This is a fight for the soul of the conservative movement.

Carlson and Owens don’t see themselves as extremists, but neither did fascists, or Leninists, or Maoists, all of whom espoused populist ideas that led to catastrophe and still fuel division today. 

We must be honest about the stakes. The next generation is listening and forming their worldview from the loudest online voices. Left unchecked, radical ideas will seep into the mainstream.

This isn’t a battle over politics but moral clarity. It’s about what kind of world and country we are building for the next generation. 

In my years working with lawmakers and faith leaders, I’ve seen that movements are strongest when they proclaim truth, uphold tested principles, and expose charlatans. 

The stakes are too high for Conservatives and Christians to cede the ground now.

Conservatives have a choice: protect the soul of the movement by rejecting and fighting against antisemitism wherever it appears – even, and especially, within their own ranks – or watch helplessly as fringe voices corrupt their movement and cherished principles. As Charlie Kirk demonstrated, we must put authentic and truthful engagement over cowardly silence. May his memory be a blessing – and guidance for a better path forward.