Copyright timesofisrael
The Republican Party’s transformation has been in full swing for many years. From the neoconservative era under George W. Bush to the current far-right pundits that seem to gain more and more clout as time progresses. They are not connected to any mainstream media outlets. Instead, they live on social media, the home where they can truly be free to express their thoughts. Two gentlemen who continue to make waves in this department are Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson; and recently, they met for a much anticipated tête-à-tête. The age of the populists YouTube and X, Instagram and Facebook. It is these mediums that they have turned into vehicles that increase their political currency. They both are staunch Republicans; they both claim to ask critical questions; and they both incite. This has paid dividends, apparently, as the political climate seems to demand such actors. Who needs boring politicians who try to bridge divides, whether they do so poorly or successfully? Why use nuance or discuss difficult issues and how you wish to tackle them in depth, when oversimplification makes for much better catchphrases? It is not the flavor of the month, but perhaps the flavor of the era – and more and more politicians are tapping into this. To be fair, this is not simply an issue in the United States. For instance, we just had parliamentary elections in the Netherlands. Considering that Dutch elections always lead to coalition governments, that means that compromises will have to be made. Yet the fractured political landscape complete with increasingly bitter ideological divides will probably mean that forming a coalition could take a year – I am not joking, this has happened here before. And if a coalition is formed, I would expect that the government would fall within two years – in fact, we went to early elections, because the far-right PVV torpedoed the government, so it could remain true to its voters. In this latest election cycle, we were bombarded with slick ads and lofty promises about the economy, the perennial housing crisis in the Low Lands, and migration issues, much of it wrapped in some cheap rhetoric. So, Geert Wilders’ PVV remains committed to battling the “Islamization” of the Netherlands. That is it, basically. But on the far-left of the political spectrum, we have some much smaller pretenders as well. Take the Party for Animals and DENK, both winning three seats and thus remaining stable. The former has steadily moved towards human affairs, much to the chagrin of one of its founders, who remains devoted to animal rights – he launched his own movement, recently. And when I am referring to human affairs, there is only one that deserves overwhelming interest: Gaza. In fact, on election night its leader Esther Ouwehand proudly stated that she would keep fighting for the Palestinians – I do not think they even know who she is. Indeed, she once appeared in parliament wearing a blouse in the shape of a Palestinian flag. Then there is DENK, which on election night celebrated by reaffirming its commitment to equal opportunities in the Netherlands, the Palestinians, and combating any pro-Israeli Dutch politician. Its leader, Stefan van Baarle, wears a Palestinian flag on his lapel – never a Dutch one – and once posted an image on his X account of Gaza, the West Bank, and the State of Israel draped in the Palestinian flag – “this was the future,” as he explained. Furthermore, both express their support for human rights, but you will rarely, if ever, hear them about Iranian repression, the military presence of Türkiye in Syria and Iraq or the civil war in Sudan. And in Israel, of course, we have such colorful figures as Likud’s Tally Gotliv, who could just as easily have been a member of Otzma Yehudit. Not too long ago, she accused security staff in a court room of acting like the Judenrat – no boundary remains sacred. The shocking news? She is now polling at the top of Likud. The conspiracy theorist After these examples of Dutch and Israeli populists, I will now return to Mr. Fuentes and Mr. Carlson, starting with the latter. Carlson, the ever-glorious journalist, likes to invite people for long-winded talks. The atmosphere is very shrewd, as he talks to people at a large table wearing his typical plaid shirt, conveying the image of an everyday casual chat between friends or family members. Indeed, on most occasions he invites people not to critically question them, but to give them a platform, such as Darryl Cooper. When Carlson talks, he regularly launches into bursts of giddy laughter. Also, he continuously stresses that he is sincere, simply asks questions, and is most certainly not an antisemite or anti-Israel – on the contrary, he likes Jews and is “moderate” when it comes to Israel. I find it odd that you constantly have to reiterate this, but that probably seems connected to the fact that Carlson is obsessed with Israel. He rails against Benjamin Netanyahu, AIPAC, American military aid for Israel and a close relationship that has given the United States nothing, according to him. While pro-Israel organizations such as AIPAC certainly lobby the American government, others try to use influence, too – indeed, some will try to buy it, by gifting the current President an airplane. Also, military aid to Israel is expensive, yet the US provides billions in aid to countries like Egypt and Jordan, too. And while the United States offers the biggest amount of aid in absolute terms, in relative terms it is one of the smallest providers of all Western countries. Finally, the value of the relationship is not useless, as cooperation in terms of technology has been fruitful, with Iron Dome a prime example. Another point Carlson repeatedly stresses, is that he is not a conspiracy theorist. However, he constantly seems to contradict himself. For instance, he insinuated that Charlie Kirk might have been eliminated by Israel; when still working for Fox News, he once started shouting on air that he wanted to see American biolabs in Ukraine – there is no evidence for these – as referenced by Anne Applebaum in her book Autocracy, Inc.; he claimed that Israel was responsible for HTS toppling Bashar al-Assad; and he once stated that he was attacked by a demon – I am guessing that the Mossad unleashed it on him? And he did not shy away from attempting to launch another conspiracy in his talk with Fuentes, when the latter talked about surviving an assassination attempt. Carlson, in fact, suggested that the armed assailant appearing at Fuentes’ door could have been directed by a “bad actor” – we know who he means. Finally, Carlson repeatedly decried being vilified by his detractors, stating again that he was not an antisemite, by referencing his Jewish friends. But then, he did the same thing he dislikes vehemently. For instance, he disagrees with Christian Zionists and vilifies them by calling them “heretics” who suffer from a “brain virus.” Furthermore, he apparently took a poll among Israelis, because he stated that they all consider all Gazans terrorists. And, most importantly, Carlson repeatedly mentions that he loves America, is a true conservative, a good Christian and a bona fide anti-elitist who rails against neoconservatives and everyone who is apparently running the US into the ground. Indeed, in another episode he even had the audacity to praise the Venezuelan dictatorship, because they refused to allow gay marriage. Next to these disturbing remarks, his self-styled anti-elitist attitude is ridiculous. He is an elitist who wishes to replace the elites he hates. Already in 2019 he railed against the leaders at Davos and was eager to interview Dutch historian Rutger Bregman, who attended the event and offered a scathing critique. However, Bregman – his books have been criticized by experts – was astute enough to record a conversation with Carlson. Bregman accused Carlson of being a hypocrite, because he made millions working for Rupert Murdoch’s media empire and, at that time, worked as a fellow for an institute created by the Koch brothers. Suffice it to say, Carlson blew up on Bregman and proceeded to curse and ridicule him. And what does Carlson do now? Each episode on YouTube is laced with Carlson the salesman, peddling all kinds of patriotic American brands and offering a special “Tucker discount” on your first purchase. Who said you could not make some money, while offering political commentary? The nativist Now, on to the young and rising star in the world of social media, Mr. Nick Fuentes. Born and raised in an overwhelmingly white Chicago suburb, a MAGA enthusiast and loyal supporter of Donald Trump and Kanye West; a man who admitted to admiring Josif Stalin, of all people; who enjoyed listening to Mark Levin in college, because the host was so mean to his callers; a man who claims not to be antisemitic at all, but simply has an issue with Israel and Zionist Jews – he shares that he has a Jewish assistant and is “cool with that”; and he argues that he is the real, principled conservative. In fact, the Republican Party should move towards him, not the other way around. First of all, Fuentes is nothing new at all. Nativism can be found across our little globe. Furthermore, Fuentes is a devoted white, Christian nationalist, who labors to “save” America’s unique Christian character. The fact that Fuentes clearly courts white supremacists is a little hilarious, as someone should inform him that most, if not all, will never accept him as one of theirs. The reason would be his mixed Italian and especially Mexican heritage. Also, he stated that he comes from a “normal” background, by pointing to the fact that his parents are married and he was raised Catholic. His faith, in fact, would have been a problem for the Know Nothings, American nativists in the nineteenth century, who were very hostile towards Catholics, as described in David M. Potter’s The Impending Crisis, 1848-1861; and he presented himself as a victim of Ben Shapiro’s, whom he accused of trying to ruin his career. When it comes to Jews, it is clear what Fuentes intends. Officially, he has nothing against Jews, but then it comes. Most neoconservatives are Jews and migrated to the Republican Party, after the Yom Kippur War, according to Fuentes. He shares this, because he wants his audience to deduce that Jews have infiltrated the Republican Party and do not belong. In addition, he claims that all Jews are connected to Israel and therefore will always suffer from dual loyalty, meaning that they cannot be trusted. So, it would be easy to conclude that Fuentes actually wants all American Jews to move to Israel. After all the contributions made to American society and the fact that the majority of them feel American, not to mention the small minority of Jews who are indifferent or even hostile to Israel, that is not enough for Fuentes. At some point, Norman Finkelstein, Jeffrey Sachs, Hannah Einbinder, and Wallace Shawn will have to move there. If that does not happen, the Jews must be contained in the United States. It does not matter that Fuentes claims to love Glenn Greenwald – a Jew who is critical of Israel, of course – as this flimsy theory says quite much. In fact, he repeats that Jews are different from all other minorities in the United States, as they can never be fully loyal to the Stars and Stripes. Two rivals engaging in conversation Yet one point was subtle, but easily missed. These were not far-right comrades, but rivals vying for influence. A few examples from the conversation will suffice. At one point, Carlson questioned why Fuentes continued to attack him, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Matt Gaetz. Fuentes smiled and retorted that they attacked him, too. Moreover, both started a victimhood contest, focused on who had been attacked more by Zionist Jews. Carlson fired the opening salvo, by gently insinuating that Zionists actually liked Fuentes, because he was extreme, while Carlson painted himself as a moderate and therefore needed to be attacked by the Zionists. Fuentes immediately defended himself by stating that “they” had hounded him more. Secondly, Carlson seemed to be worried that Fuentes’ rhetoric could plunge the United States into chaos. Carlson is a Christian nationalist as well, but seems to fear tensions between all groups in the United States, as he does seem to realize that his country is quite diverse. Fuentes agreed that national interests were most important, but again stated that Jews alone were incapable of putting their own interests aside for the greater good of the United States. This was not a meeting between allies, it was two powerful influencers sizing each other up ahead of the battle for the Republican Party. The ascent of extremism Perhaps I am too concerned, but the tens of thousands of comments below the video speak volumes. It was a congregation of people engaging in legions of anti-Israel and antisemitic jokes and comments. In other words, it is quite clear what their followers’ views are. Moreover, it needs to be said: Donald Trump enables people like Fuentes and Carlson. Perhaps he does not share their views and opportunistically uses them to strengthen his political base. But once he retires, they will inherit the Republican Party. Currently, it already is a far cry from the party that once championed an end to slavery. Right-wing politics is becoming more extreme and people like Fuentes and Carlson are tapping into feelings of resentment, weaponizing them to further their agendas; and left-wing politics is similar, slowly but surely being consumed by far-left activists who preach dogmas, promise revolution, and claim to support minorities, yet remain indifferent about antisemitism. Of course, the moderate politicians of the past can be faulted for not addressing the effects of rapid globalization and the consequent increasing economic inequality effectively, to name one important issue. Yet, the current rise of demagoguery is not helping anyone. In the end, it seems that the future of the Republican Party will be decided by a nativist who peddles antisemitic tropes and admires a dictator or a conspiracy theorist who is a younger version of Pat Buchanan. Is this truly all the Grand Old Party has to offer?
