Cruz Calls Out Tucker Carlson: ‘It’s Time to Say His Name and Confront Antisemitism on the Right’

Senator Ted Cruz on Friday issued one of the sharpest rebukes yet from within the GOP, demanding that Republicans stop staying silent about antisemitism and call out Tucker Carlson by name. “It’s easy right now to denounce Nick Fuentes. That’s kind of safe. Are you willing to say Tucker’s name?” Cruz asked, speaking at the Federalist Society’s Washington National Lawyers Convention, according to Jewish Insider.

Cruz warned that while many of his Republican colleagues privately disapprove of Carlson’s recent actions, they’re afraid to say so publicly. “Now I can tell you, my colleagues, almost to a person, think what is happening is horrifying. But a great many of them are frightened, because he has one hell of a big megaphone,” he said.

The controversy erupted after Carlson conducted what critics called a sympathetic interview with neo-Nazi agitator Nick Fuentes. The exchange triggered widespread outrage, including from Jewish organizations, and renewed concern about rising antisemitism among conservative media figures.

At the same time, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts came to Carlson’s defense, posting a video denouncing the “globalist class” and applauding Carlson’s right to host Fuentes. The message provoked strong backlash and internal dissent within the think tank. Roberts later admitted that the video had been a “mistake” — though he did not remove it — and continued to describe Carlson as a “personal friend,” refusing to condemn his antisemitic rhetoric.

Cruz, speaking before a room full of conservative lawyers, emphasized that his disagreement with Carlson wasn’t about censorship but about responsibility. “My complaint about Tucker having Nick Fuentes on was not that he platformed him. That’s a choice you can make or not,” he said. “But the last I checked, Tucker actually knows how to cross-examine someone. If you want to cross-examine and challenge him, that’s fine. But he didn’t. He fawningly gazed at him.”

The Texas senator said both Fuentes and Carlson are free to express their views — but the rest of the conservative movement must reject them. “Fuentes and Carlson have a right to say what they are saying. But every one of us has an obligation to stand up and say it is wrong,” he said.

Carlson, in recent years, has repeatedly invoked antisemitic tropes — suggesting that “Zionists” and Israel wield excessive control over U.S. policy and the media. During a speech at a memorial for Charlie Kirk, he remarked: “So it’s about 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem … and Jesus shows up and he starts telling the truth about people … they just go bonkers.” He went on, mockingly adding, “Why don’t we just kill him? That’ll shut him up …” while laughing.

The Anti-Defamation League condemned those remarks, stating: “Carlson’s remarks dangerously reinforced the belief that Jews killed Jesus and that Jews have been a malevolent force throughout history. This antisemitic myth has led to expulsions and murders of Jews for centuries.”

In another episode of his podcast, Carlson speculated that Charlie Kirk’s opposition to an Israeli strike on Iran “created some angry ones,” implying that such views had made Kirk powerful enemies. Observers noted that Carlson has frequently used language insinuating that Israel or “Israeli lobbies” control American politics — echoing classic antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jewish influence over governments and media.

Carlson has gone even further, claiming without evidence that Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu privately boasts that he “controls President Donald Trump and tells him what to do.” He also alleged that Jeffrey Epstein was an Israeli spy connected to the Mossad, a claim unsupported by any investigation.

In his series The 9/11 Files, Carlson suggested that neoconservatives — often depicted as Jewish or pro-Israel in conspiratorial narratives — may have helped orchestrate or allowed the 9/11 attacks to advance a “greater Israel” agenda.

Cruz told his audience that conservatives must no longer look away from such rhetoric. He began by condemning antisemitism on the left, acknowledging that “there is a real and cognizable pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party.” But, he continued, the problem now extends across the spectrum. “When that happened on the left, those of us on the right were quite comfortable standing up and denouncing it. In some ways, that’s easy,” he said. “But now it’s happening on the right. In the last six months, I’ve seen more antisemitism on the right than I have at any time in my life. It is growing. It is metastasizing.”

Cruz concluded with an appeal reminiscent of Ronald Reagan’s 1964 speech A Time for Choosing. “I believe now, today, is a time for choosing as well,” he said. “I think it is a time for every elected official, I think it is a time for every editorialist, I think it is a time for every lawyer, for every student, to decide, where do you stand?”

{Matzav.com}