Where Tucker Carlson and global jihadism intersect

“Jesus is a Palestinian. Merry Christmas!” flashed across Times Square this past December.

Let that sink in.

In the heart of America’s most influential city, Jesus, the most famous Jew in history, was rebranded to align with a propaganda narrative long pushed by Palestinian jihadist movements.

Back in 2015, Fatah-linked militants declared Jesus the first Palestinian martyr. Not a Jew celebrating Passover, but a figure recast as celebrating Ramadan. Not a rabbi, but an imam. Not followed by Jews named Jacob, John, and Jude, but by men with names like Mohammed, Abdullah, and Khalid, as described by Dr. Michael Brown in a 2025 Townhall column.

This is a Jesus stripped of His Jewish identity and recast as a Palestinian revolutionary - born to a Palestinian mother, portrayed as a freedom fighter against the so-called “evil Jews” in their own ancestral homeland of Israel.

Think about how radical this is!

On American soil, before our very eyes, the most influential Jew who ever lived is being systematically de-Judaized and weaponized in the service of modern antisemitism.

But here’s where it gets even more uncomfortable: this isn’t happening only on the radical Left or among Islamist movements abroad.

Prominent political commentator Tucker Carlson has openly attacked Christian Zionism, calling it a “brain virus” and a “heresy”. Some might dismiss this as an internal Christian debate. It’s not. It is much worse.

What Carlson, and some other conservative commentators/podcasters are really promoting, whether intended or not, is a version of Christianity that quietly strips Jesus of His kingship.

“Christ” is not Jesus’ last name. It’s His Messianic title. It’s His throne name. Christ means the Anointed One, the promised Davidic King. The New Testament refers to this kingship 326 times. This is the foundation of Christian belief. 

To confess Jesus as the Christ (or Messiah), is to confess Him as King of the Jews, who is the King of Kings - the Savior of the world who will one day reign from Zion. That means Zion has a future. Israel has a future.

According to the plain teaching of the New Testament, written by Jews, Jesus was “born King of the Jews” (Matt. 2:2). At Passover, He said He would not eat of the bread and drink of the cup again until the Kingdom was fulfilled (Matt. 26:29). After His resurrection, the disciples asked Him plainly, “Will You, at this time, restore the Kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Then, forty days later, He ascended to heaven with the promise that He would return to Jerusalem (Acts 1:9-11). Romans 11:26 tells us that “the Deliverer will come out of Zion.”

But according to Carlson’s worldview, something strange happens along the way. Jesus ends up with no throne in Zion, no mission to restore Israel, and no reign from Jerusalem.

In other words, “Christ” is emptied of its true meaning.

Anti-Zionism, the claim that Israel is not the ancestral home of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ends up being a movement that erases the Jewish roots of the land. And once you erase those roots, Christianity goes with them.

The point is that a true Christian must not separate Jesus from Israel. Not in the past. Not in the present. Not in the future.

You can see, then, that there is a deeper, darker force at work here.

Israel was the conduit through which God brought the Savior into the world - first to bring salvation, and ultimately to rule the nations. God chose Israel as the vessel to bless all peoples, fulfilling His plan to restore humanity. That’s why Israel has always been under attack.

And that’s why it still is.

So let’s be clear, with a truth few want to say aloud: the new antisemitism is anti-Zionism - and the new anti-Zionism is anti-Christ.

That is the dangerous point where Tucker Carlson’s rhetoric and global jihadist propaganda intersect.

And that’s exactly where followers of Jesus must draw the line - by rejecting the lie and proclaiming the truth: Jesus is the Christ!