Sep 10, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Tucker Carlson faces rare rebuke from Congress' Jewish Dems

Andrew Solender

Tucker Carlson, wearing a gray suit and speaking into a microphone at a podium. — Tucker Carlson speaks at the Republican National Committee on July 18, 2024. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Every Jewish Democrat in the House of Representatives signed onto a joint statement Monday denouncing right-wing media host Tucker Carlson for interviewing a historian who downplayed the Holocaust.

Why it matters: It is exceedingly rare for all 24 of the House's Jewish Democrats, a fractious group containing some of Congress' most progressive and most moderate Democrats, to take public action as a group.

What they're saying: "We are appalled that Tucker Carlson hosted and promoted Nazi apologist and Holocaust denier Darryl Cooper on his podcast," the House Democrats, led by Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), wrote.

They pointed to Cooper saying the U.S. was on the "wrong side" in World War II and casting the Holocaust as an accidental misstep by the Nazis rather than an intentional genocide.
The lawmakers concluded: "The normalization of Nazism is unacceptable and dangerous, and must be forcefully condemned. Americans deserve to know that their leaders will rebuke the cancers of antisemitism and Nazism whenever and wherever they appear."

Zoom out: The interview has received widespread criticism from the Biden administration, including from some centrist Republican members of Congress.

The White House blasted Carlson in a statement for "giving a microphone to a Holocaust denier who spreads Nazi propaganda is a disgusting and sadistic insult to all Americans."
A spokesperson for Carlson did not respond to a request for comment.

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Tucker Carlson faces rare rebuke from Congress' Jewish Dems

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