We see that in our time, individuals running for election address the economy, including affordability and inflation. Voters often focus solely on these issues and ignore all the other troubling things those candidates have said in the past, instead choosing to look only at what they promise to do in the future. In the past, a politician’s views on Israel—which often masked antisemitism, or were blatant antisemitism outright—would have disqualified a person.
Mamdani is the best example. Many have said that this is a Democratic Party problem. That is incorrect. Elise Stefanik believed it was limited to progressives within the Democratic Party. That was why she called Mamdani a jihadist. She assumed it would help her in the Republican primary and in the general election for governor of New York State. Trump proved her wrong. Not only did he invite Mamdani to the Oval Office, but he also said many positive things about him. When Trump was explicitly asked whether he agreed with Stefanik’s characterization of Mamdani as a jihadist, he took Mamdani’s side. He said Mamdani was not a jihadist and that Stefanik was wrong.
Then came the Turning Point Conference, AmFest 2025. It was organized by Charlie Kirk’s group. Ben Shapiro, a politically conservative Orthodox Jew who wears a yarmulke, decided this was the place to take a stand and call out the scourge of antisemitism among segments of the right. Although he did not explicitly use the word antisemitism, it was clear why he was speaking out. He called out antisemites such as Nick Fuentes, Candace Owens, and Tucker Carlson, along with their enablers, including Megyn Kelly and, again, Tucker Carlson.
Shapiro knew there would be pushback—from Carlson and Kelly, who spoke after him, and from Owens on her podcast. It should surprise no one that they denied being antisemitic and instead argued that Shapiro was trying to silence them. Steve Bannon even called Shapiro a cancer. The key question, however, was how the vice president would react. He is the candidate of choice for Turning Point USA and is currently the leading Republican contender for the presidency in 2028.
Vance did not call out the antisemitism of these individuals or say they have no place in the Republican Party. Instead, he said that all opinions are valued and that the movement has a broad tent. In other words, there is room for antisemites within the MAGA movement and the Republican Party. Antisemitism has gone mainstream in both parties. Vance also referred to the United States as a Christian nation, which by definition excludes Jews.
What happened on Bondi Beach in Sydney on the first day of Chanukah illustrates what occurs when antisemitism is combined with access to weapons. Australia has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, including bans on semi-automatic weapons. However, authorities failed to identify the father and son involved as threats. If Australia had gun laws similar to those in the United States regarding AR-15s, there likely would have been far more victims. For example, in Las Vegas, one individual armed with an AR-15 killed 60 people.
In Sydney, there were two attackers, a father and son, but they were armed only with a hunting rifle—a lever-action weapon with a magazine capacity of no more than five rounds. It was not semi-automatic like the AR-15, the weapon of choice for mass murderers in the United States (see, for example, Las Vegas in 2017 and Sandy Hook Elementary School).
One of the major complaints in Australia was that the government did not take protests and other expressions of antisemitism seriously, which ultimately led to the carnage. In the United States, we are already past that stage. Jews have already been hunted down. The deadliest attack occurred at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in October 2018, where eleven worshippers were murdered. Attacks on Jews have not slowed the spread of antisemitism; instead, it continues to grow worse.
We need to fight back. We may not win every battle, as seen in the case of Mamdani, but we cannot give up. Vance, like many politicians, will follow what he believes is politically advantageous. Therefore, it is important to show our displeasure with his response. Additionally, we must use the legal system to pursue those who engage in illegal conduct against Jews.
Time will tell whether Ben Shapiro’s speech proves to be a true turning point in the fight against antisemitism within the conservative movement. I would like to believe that it will be. However, the responses from others at the conference were not especially encouraging.
