Jewish Trump surrogate refused to speak at meeting with Tucker

Tucker Carlson speaks for Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, during a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Former President Donald Trump’s Sunday night’s rally in New York City made headlines for all the wrong reasons after a comedian made vulgar and racist jokes about immigrants, Puerto Rico, Black Americans, Palestinians and Jews.

It was like that on Monday reported by Jewish Insider that at least one pro-Trump activist and campaign surrogate, Shabbat Kestenbaum, boycotted the meeting over concerns about the lineup — specifically the inclusion of the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Kestenbaum spoke on behalf of Trump at the Republican National Convention last summer and has become a regular campaigner for the former president.

“I believe that President Trump, through his advocacy for the Antisemitism Awareness Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act protections, Abraham Accords and other measures, is the best choice for American Jewry,” Kestenbaum said in a statement to Jewish Insider. he would not appear at the event:

I will vote for him and will continue to advocate for him to moderate and liberal Jewish voters when the elections close.

I also believe that Tucker Carlson is a dangerous anti-Semite who has nothing to do with electoral politics. I will continue to call out far-left and far-right anti-Semitism. Whether right or left, I will never attend an event with an anti-Semite.

In a post on

Carlson has been accused of promoting anti-Semitic tropes. Last summer, the Anti-Defamation League urged Twitter, now X, to reconsider hosting Carlson’s show on its platform.

“For years, @TuckerCarlson has slyly woven anti-Jewish conspiracies into his show on @FoxNews — attacking George Soros, slandering Paul Singer and making other baseless claims. Now the mask is completely finished,” said ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt posted after Carlon’s first episode hit the platform.

After listing some other examples, Greenblatt concluded: “If @lindayacc wants to attract Fortune 500 advertisers and @elonmusk wants to create a real public square, it might be wise not to give this obvious anti-Semite such a huge megaphone . Let Tucker and his ilk take their hatred elsewhere.”

In recent weeks, Carlson has been criticized for hosting a Holocaust denier Darryl Cooper on his show. Carlson frowned at Cooper during their conversation: calling him “the best and fairest popular historian in the United States.” Cooper used his time at Carlson to rewrite and explain the history of World War II Winston Churchill to be the real villain of the conflict, not Adolf Hitler.

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