Tucker Carlson recognized as 2025 Antisemite of the Year

Many organizations name their person of the year in late December because of their positive contributions. Media personality Tucker Carlson may not be happy with one of his awards.

The watchdog group StopAntisemitism has named Carlson its 2025 Antisemite of the Year, highlighting the political commentator’s false statements about Israel and platforming of individuals who are infamous for normalizing prejudice against Jews. The organization’s stated mission is to expose groups or individuals that incite hatred toward Jews.

“Carlson mainstreams antisemitism by platforming and praising Holocaust revisionists and Nazi apologists, while hiding behind irony and plausible deniability,” the group said in a statement. “By legitimizing extremist voices and weaponizing conspiratorial imagery at massive scale, he has helped drag antisemitic ideas back into the mainstream.”

The award is again putting the spotlight on President Donald Trump and VP JD Vance. Critics in both the Christian and Jewish communities say the administration seems to struggle with distancing itself from Carlson, who is clearly outside the mainstream when it comes to antisemitism.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents in the United States have surged in recent years, with online platforms playing a growing role in the spread of conspiracy theories and extremist rhetoric. Media watchdogs have increasingly warned that influential commentators can accelerate that trend by amplifying fringe voices.

The group, verified in a story by The Christian Post, highlighted Carlson’s video podcast hosting Nick Fuentes, a political provocateur known for spreading antisemitic rhetoric and lauding Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin. “Carlson has built a reputation for giving a platform to dangerous ideas, allowing guests to spread falsehoods and antisemitic narratives,” the group said in a video.

Ben Shapiro of The Daily Wire warned attendees at the recent Turning Point USA conference about strategies that influencers who claim to hold conservative values use to manipulate audiences and spread conspiracy theories.

“There is a reason that Charlie Kirk despised Nick Fuentes,” Shapiro said. “He knew that Nick Fuentes is an evil troll and that building him up is an act of moral imbecility. And that is precisely what Tucker Carlson did.”

Shapiro also called out Candace Owens, the previous Antisemite of the Year. Other contenders included Greta Thunberg and Twitch streamer Hasan Piker.

Trump administration urged to cut ties

There are continuing calls for the Trump administration break ties with Carlson and others.  JNS.org reports that Josh Hammer, senior editor at Newsweek commented in an interview that he “believes that at some point, U.S. Vice President JD Vance, a close friend of Carlson’s and whose presidential ambitions for 2028 are no secret, is going to have to make a firm statement about his opposition to Jew-hatred and distinguish himself from the anti-Israel faction on the far right.”

Hammer goes on to say, as reported by JNS, that Carlson’s goal is not necessarily to break up the U.S.-Israel alliance “but to write Judaism out of Western civilization and, as a result, destroy U.S. President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement and replace it with something that is openly anti-Jewish and anti-Israel.”

In November 2025, Trump declined to criticize Carlson for hosting Fuentes on his podcast, then praised Carlson for having “said good things about me over the years.”

For Trump, who is seen as the most pro-Israel and pro-Jewish president in the last 50 years, the defense of Carlson seems out of place.

“We are disappointed in President Trump,” said Morton Klein, president of the conservative Zionist Organization of America, adding that he should “rethink and retract” his comments.

StopAntisemitism said its annual designation is intended to draw attention to rhetoric it believes contributes to hostility and misinformation.

–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice