Trump diplomatic nominee Jeremy Carl faces backlash over anti-Israel, antisemitic remarks

U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for the position of assistant secretary of state for international organizations, Jeremy Carl, is facing a backlash due to his hostile views towards Israel and the Jewish people.

Senator John Curtis of Utah (R) has reportedly been attempting to convince Trump that Carl is not the right person for the senior position.

“I find his anti-Israel views and insensitive remarks about the Jewish people unbecoming of the position for which he has been nominated,” Curtis said.

Following the controversy, it remains unclear whether the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will advance Carl’s nomination. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Carl remains the president’s preferred nominee.

The committee is composed of 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats. Democrats are expected to oppose the nomination. If Sen. Curtis also votes against Carl, the panel would be evenly divided, with 11 members in favor and 11 opposed, potentially stalling the nomination.

During the hearing, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) asked Carl to explain the so-called “Great Replacement” theory, which has been described by critics as the idea that demographic changes driven by immigration are intended to replace white Americans.

Carl responded that he was referring to what he described as the “international demographic replacement of Europeans in Europe.” Booker then asked whether Carl believes the concept also applies to the United States and whether he thinks there is “an effort to replace Americans.”

“I think the Democratic Party, through its immigration policies, has certainly sent signs of that,” Carl responded.

Carl’s nomination has drawn scrutiny for several months. In September, CNN reported that Carl had attempted to delete approximately 5,000 posts on 𝕏 that reportedly contained inflammatory content related to race.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York expressed his opposition to Carl’s nomination during a speech this week, arguing that Carl has “a long history of racist, white supremacist and antisemitic views.”

Criticism of Israel and its policies has long been present among some progressive activists. In recent years, critics have also pointed to the emergence of anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric among some figures on the political right, including commentators such as Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens.

In January, conservative thinkers from Israel and the United States discussed the rise of Jew-hatred among the American Right at the International Conference on Combating Antisemitism, which was hosted for the second time in Jerusalem.

Pastor Dumisani Washington, founder and CEO of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel, noted similarities between antisemitic rhetoric associated with Louis Farrakhan on the political left and commentary by Carlson on the political right.

“If you look at their bullet points where Israel and Jews are concerned, they're identical,” Washington said.