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Trump says Republicans ‘don’t like’ antisemites. Don’t trust him
President Donald Trump claims to be “the least antisemitic person” in the world, and, in a new interview with The New York Times, insisted that antisemites have no home in the Republican Party.
But with antisemitism erupting in right-wing circles, the narrative of Trump and the Republican Party as the Jewish people’s sole defenders is crumbling. And so is a form of Jewish politics that has catastrophically failed American Jews.
In response to the surge of left-wing antisemitism after Hamas’ massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, many American Jewish communities and institutions adopted a realpolitik approach for survival: support whichever candidates fight most fiercely in defense of Israel, and against campus antisemitism. That often meant standing behind Trump and his “Make America Great Again” base.
But staying in Trump’s good graces came with the condition of unequivocal loyalty. Questioning Trump, or the movements that backed his return to power, would be considered the epitome of disloyalty. Which meant that, in order to ensure the administration’s continued support for Jewish interests, Jewish groups working with Trump needed to disregard Republican antisemitism — see the widespread refusal to decry Elon Musk’s apparent Nazi salute after Trump’s inauguration.
That trade-off is no longer working.
Amid the growing popularity and influence of antisemites like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Nick Fuentes — whom Trump, in the Times interview, claimed not to know, despite the two’s infamous 2022 dinner —Trump and his right-wing allies have failed to meaningfully act.
Which means that Jews who have partnered with Trump, or hoped his second presidency would prove to be good for our people, need to start considering a new form of Jewish politics – one in which supporting Israel and paying lip service to combating antisemitism are not the only meaningful yardsticks.
Supporting liberal democratic values — equality, civil discourse and political order — must matter, too. Because when illiberalism thrives, Jewish communities are always endangered.
Authoritarianism, the journalist Anne Applebaum explained in her 2020 book Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism, stands against complexity, debate, and the political norms that make democracies thrive. This breeding ground is ripe for conspiratorial thinking, which is almost always a pretext to antisemitism.
Applebaum saw that process unfold after the election of Poland’s Law and Justice party in 2016, when some of her acquaintances drifted from embracing illiberalism to becoming propagandists advancing age-old antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Disregarding facts, spreading conspiracies and refusing accountability are the playbook of Trump’s presidency. And that’s exactly the playbook that figures like Carlson, Owens and Fuentes follow — no matter how much Trump disowns the connection.
Carlson, who was fired from Fox News more than two years ago, has since used his extraordinarily successful podcast to platform Holocaust deniers and spread conspiracy theories about Jews and Israel. And Trump defended Carlson’s 2025 interview with Fuentes, an openly antisemitic far-right agitator who has rapidly gained influence in the wake of his fellow far-right activist Charlie Kirk’s murder.
It was up to listeners “to decide” for themselves about Fuentes’ antisemitic views, Trump insisted.
Vice President JD Vance similarly refused to condemn Carlson, who served as an influential surrogate for Trump’s re-election campaign.
Owens, who hosts one of the world’s most popular podcasts, has also been defended by the more mainstream right. Megyn Kelly, a former Fox host with four million YouTube subscribers, has repeatedly refused to condemn the absurd antisemitic conspiracy theories Owens has spread — whether they involve Jewish pedophile rings, Israel being responsible for Charlie Kirk’s assassination, or Jewish money controlling the United States.
So despite Trump’s weak condemnation of antisemites — “I think we don’t like them,” he told the Times — his actions, and those of his allies and defenders, send a contrary message.
That must push American Jews to ask: What went wrong in the calculus? How could once avowedly proud defenders of Jews and Israel backtrack like this?
For starters, we must acknowledge that this change is not sudden. Rampant antisemitism in Trump’s administration has rarely received serious attention from his Jewish supporters. During his first term, and since his second inauguration last January, high-ranking officials under his watch have promoted the antisemitic Great Replacement theory; mocked the Holocaust; and maintained ties to antisemites. The response from too many mainstream Jewish groups has been, effectively, a shrug.
They may have thought that ignoring that culture was part of the bargain needed to secure Trump’s allyship. Instead, it should have been a warning sign that Trump cared about antisemitism and Israel only so long as doing so served him — not because it was right to do so.
Taking that bargain was an aberration from the Jewish norm, and a damaging one.
“Given the realities of history,” Jonathan A. Jacobs, director of the Institute for Criminal Justice Ethics at John Jay College, has written,“Jews are fully alert to the ways that serious deficits of civility can be as menacing and lethal as discriminatory laws.”
There is a reason why American Jews have traditionally held a deep affinity for democratic societies: They understood the role that true democratic governance, and the values of liberal democracy, played in their safety.
History reminds us that whether in 20th-century Europe or today’s Middle East, systematic anti-democratic behaviors are a warning sign for Jews.
At the same time, this does not mean that democratic societies are the only consideration for Jewish safety.
The Australia Institute describes Australia’s democracy as “thriving,” yet only weeks ago, 15 people were killed at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, which came in the context of escalating antisemitism across the country — arsonist attacks on synagogues, calls for destroying Israel and isolation of Jewish communities.
That means democracy may not be enough to guarantee Jewish safety. But neither can it be disregarded.
The lesson for Jewish communities and institutions is that we must find leaders and politicians who will protect Jews in the short and long term. We must support a healthy democracy, and also fight for it to combat hate as effectively as possible.
That means backing politicians whose policies are not only favorable to Jewish safety and supporting Israel, but also toward democracy.
“Anyone who buys into the conspiracy myth that is the foundation stone of antisemitism,” Deborah Lipstadt, the former special envoy to Combat and Monitor Antisemitism, said in 2024, “has given up on democracy.”
If there is any lesson from the unmasking of right-wing antisemites, it is this: if Jews want lasting safety, they cannot secure it through transactional loyalty or selective outrage. The task is not to choose between fighting against antisemitism and for democratic values, but rather to insist upon both.
The post Trump says Republicans ‘don’t like’ antisemites. Don’t trust him appeared first on The Forward.
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China Warns Against Foreign ‘Interference’ in Iran as Trump Mulls Response to Regime Crackdown
A demonstrator lights a cigarette with fire from a burning picture of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei outside the Iranian embassy during a rally in support of nationwide protests in Iran, in London, Britain, Jan. 12, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville
China on Monday expressed hope that the Iranian regime would “overcome” the current anti-government protests sweeping the country, warning against foreign “interference” as US President Donald Trump considered how to respond to Iran’s deadly crackdown on nationwide protests.
“China hopes the Iranian government and people will overcome the current difficulties and uphold stability in the country,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters during a press conference.
“China always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, advocates that all countries’ sovereignty and security should be fully protected by international law, and opposes the use or threat of force in international relations,” she continued. “We call on parties to act in ways conducive to peace and stability in the Middle East.”
The comments came as Iran continued to face fierce demonstrations, which began on Dec. 28 over economic hardships but escalated into large-scale protests calling for the downfall of the country’s Islamist regime.
If the regime in Tehran was seriously weakened or potentially collapsed, it would present a problem for a strategic partner of Beijing.
China, a key diplomatic and economic backer of Tehran, has moved to deepen ties with the regime in recent years, signing a 25-year cooperation agreement, holding joint naval drills, and continuing to purchase Iranian oil despite US sanctions.
China is the largest importer of Iranian oil, with nearly 90 percent of Iran’s crude and condensate exports going to Beijing. Traders and analysts have said that Chinese reliance on Iranian oil will likely increase and replace Venezuelan oil after US forces captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month.
Iran’s growing ties with China come at a time when Tehran faces mounting economic sanctions from Western powers, while Beijing itself is also under US sanctions.
According to some media reports, China may be even helping Iran rebuild its decimated air defenses following the 12-day war with Israel in June.
The extent of China’s partnership with Iran may be tested as the latter comes under increased international scrutiny over its violent crackdown on anti-regime protests.
US-based rights group HRANA said by late Monday it had verified the deaths of 646 people, including 505 protesters, 113 military and security personnel, and seven bystanders. The group added that it was investigating 579 more reported deaths and that, since the demonstrations began,10,721 people have been arrested.
Other reports gave indicated the number of protesters killed by the regime numbers well into the thousands, but with the regime imposing an internet blackout since Thursday, verification has been difficult.
Trump has said he will intervene against the regime if security forces continue killing protesters. Adding to threats of military action, Trump late on Monday announced that any country doing business with Iran will face a new tariff of 25 percent on its exports to the U.S.
“This order is final and conclusive,” he said in a social media post.
According to reports, Trump was to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, including military strikes, using cyber weapons, widening sanctions, and providing online help to anti-government sources.
Iran has warned that any military action would be met with force in response.
“Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories [Israel] as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf told a crowd in Tehran’s Enqelab Square on Monday, adding that Iranians were fighting a four-front war: “economic war, psychological warfare, military war against the US and Israel, and today a war against terrorism.”
However, the White House stressed that Trump hopes to find a diplomatic resolution.
“Diplomacy is always the first option for the president,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.
“What you’re hearing publicly from the Iranian regime is quite different from the messages the administration is receiving privately, and I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages,” she said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Al Jazeera that he and US envoy Steve Witkoff have been in contact.
Trump said on Sunday the US could meet Iranian officials and he was in contact with Iran’s opposition.
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Arson Suspect Targeted Mississippi Synagogue for ‘Jewish Ties,’ Laughed During Confession: FBI
Smoldered remains of the Beth Israel Congregation’s library. Photo: Screenshot.
The suspect believed to have intentionally ignited a catastrophic fire which decimated the Beth Israel Congregation synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi has told US federal investigators he targeted the institution over its “Jewish ties,” according to an affidavit the FBI has submitted to federal court.
Stephen Pittman, the FBI said in portions of the affidavit made public on Monday, “was identified as a person of interest and ultimately confessed to lighting a fire inside the building.” The document added that Pittman, arrested on Sunday, purchased the accelerant, gasoline, with which he ignited the blaze from a gas station.
Pittman, 19, allegedly started the conflagration in Beth Israel’s library during the early morning hours on Saturday, setting off a blaze which coursed through the entire building and intensified to the extent that its flames, according to one local account, “were coming out of the synagogue’s windows.” As he carried out the act, he notified his father of it via text message, saying “I did my research,” the
According to the court filing, Pittman also told his father that he was aware of the incident being filmed by Beth Israel’s security cameras, describing them as “the best.”
“Pittman laughed as he told his father what he did and said he finally got them,” read the affidavit from Nicholas Amiano, an FBI agent in the Jackson division.
In the end, Pittman allegedly destroyed a number of Torah scrolls and caused damage so great that the building must, for now, be abandoned while authorities conclude their investigation of the incident and Beth Israel, founded in 1860, weighs a reconstruction which could takes years to complete.
The institution was once targeted by the Ku Klux Klan over its rabbi’s support for civil rights for African Americans. With the latest destruction, some 150 families will be left without the only Jewish house of worship in the city.
“As Jackson’s only synagogue, Beth Israel is a beloved institution, and it is the fellowship of our neighbors and extended community that will see us through,” Beth Israel president Zach Shemper said in a statement. “We are a resilient people. With support from our community, we will rebuild.”
Jackson Mayor John Horhn, a Democrat also issued a statement, saying, “Acts of antisemitism, racism, and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a whole and will be treated as acts of terror against residents’ safety and freedom to worship. Targeting people because of their faith, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation is morally wrong, un-American, and completely incompatible with the values of this city.”
He added, “Jackson stands with Beth Israel and the Jewish community, and we’ll do everything we can to support them and hold accountable anyone who tried to spread fear and hate here.”
Reactions to the suspected hate crime poured in from major Jewish civil rights organizations across the country, with Anti-Defamation League (ADL) chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt saying, “An attack on any synagogue is an attack on all Jews.” The American Jewish Committee (AJC) called the fire a “hateful act” that “is only the most recent symptom of the dangerous rising antisemitism facing Jewish communities across the country and around the world.”
For several consecutive years, antisemitism in the US has surged to break “all previous annual records,” according to a series of reports issued by the ADL since it began recording data on antisemitic incidents.
The ADL recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents in 2024 — an average of 25.6 a day — across the US, providing statistical proof of what has been described as an atmosphere of hate not experienced in the nearly fifty years since the organization began tracking such data in 1979. Incidents of harassment, vandalism, and assault all increased by double digits, and for the first time ever a majority of outrages — 58 percent — were related to the existence of Israel as the world’s only Jewish state.
The Algemeiner parsed the ADL’s data, finding dramatic rises in incidents on college campuses, which saw the largest growth in 2024. The 1,694 incidents tallied by the ADL amounted to an 84 percent increase over the previous year. Additionally, antisemites were emboldened to commit more offenses in public in 2024 than they did in 2023, perpetrating 19 percent more attacks on Jewish people, pro-Israel demonstrators, and businesses perceived as being Jewish-owned or affiliated with Jews.
The FBI disclosed similar numbers, showing that even as hate crimes across the US decreased overall, those perpetrated against Jews increased by 5.8 percent in 2024 to 1,938, the largest total recorded in over 30 years of the FBI’s counting them. Jewish American groups have noted that this rise in antisemitic hate crimes, which included 178 assaults, is being experienced by a demographic group which constitutes just 2 percent of the US population.
“This latest deplorable crime against a Jewish institution reminds us that the same hatred that motivated the KKK to attack Beth Israel in 1967 is alive today,” the Florida Holocaust Museum said in a statement shared with The Algemeiner on Monday. “Antisemitism are still trying to intimidate Jews, drive them out of public life, and make houses of worship targets of violence instead of place of safety and community.”
It added, “With your help we can resist this evil. The more society understands about the nature of antisemitism, including the Holocaust, the better prepared it will be to identify and reject anti-Jewish bigotry. May Beth Israel’s Holocaust Torah, which survived the fire, inspire us all to stand up for each other and create a more just and accepting world.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Synagogue arson suspect posted antisemitic cartoon on day of the attack
Stephen Spencer Pittman, who has been charged with setting fire to Mississippi’s oldest synagogue, recently launched a website promoting “scripture-backed fitness” and shared antisemitic content on Instagram the day of the arson attack.
Pittman, 19, was charged Monday in the Jan. 10 arson of Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Miss., which he targeted because it was Jewish and described as a “synagogue of Satan,” according to an FBI affidavit. The affidavit included images of a text message conversation with his father showing Pittman went by his middle name.
St. Joseph Catholic School, Pittman’s alma mater, posted a photo of him in November 2023, with congratulations on his decision to attend Coahama Community College. St. Joe’s, as it’s known, has confirmed that Pittman is the suspect charged in the fire.
Social media accounts appearing to belong to a Spencer Pittman in Madison, Miss., a city about 15 miles north of Jackson, and a website registered to Pittman show a deep interest in Christian evangelism and physical fitness. He regularly posted quotes from the New Testament and images of himself exercising or playing sports.
The website, www.onepurpose.us, is laden with Bible references, including seemingly Judaic ones. Its homepage prominently features the Hebrew tetragrammaton representing God’s name, and calls on young men to transform their lives through a “Temple plan” of exercise and Bible study. It used a Hebrew word, heichal, to refer to sanctuary.
Pittman’s Instagram account took a darker turn in recent days.
Two days ago he reposted an animated video of a woman seeing a Jewish caricature holding moneybags and exclaiming, “A Jew in our backyard!” before pushing the figure into a swimming pool and adding, “You’re getting baptized right now.” The account he reposted has primarily shared that meme over and over. It was unclear whether he posted the video before or after the arson attack, which occurred Jan. 10 at around 3 a.m.
Before that, most of Pittman’s posts were about baseball, which he played at Coahoma Community College. It appears from an Instagram post about three weeks ago that Pittman had stopped playing baseball. In a post from Dec. 19, Pittman wrote, “Peace out to the game that made me ascend.”
He was the team’s starting center fielder at the end of last season. The school has deleted Pittman’s page from its website.
Pittman, who is in federal custody, remains hospitalized with burns it’s believed he received as a result of the arson. He was appointed a public defender on Monday, who appeared with him via videoconference for a preliminary hearing. He is expected to be released from the hospital on Wednesday, his lawyer said. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Jan. 20.
According to WLBT 3, a Jackson-based TV news station, after a federal judge asked Pittman during the hearing if he understood his rights, Pittman responded, “Yes sir. Jesus Christ is Lord.”
Law enforcement is still investigating the attack, and additional charges may be filed. If convicted on the current charges, Pittman could face up to 20 years in prison.
Calls to Pittman’s lawyer and to his family were not returned Monday.
The post Synagogue arson suspect posted antisemitic cartoon on day of the attack appeared first on The Forward.