Tucker Carlson criticizes Pat Buchanan for repeatedly invoking Jewish influence in politics, suggesting a pattern of “noticing”. While acknowledging it’s valid to debate Israel and its lobby, Carlson argues Buchanan discredits these discussions by framing them with “conspiratorial” overtones.
... Part of the same thing we have to Canada as far as I'm concerned in, just to restate. I mean, that does raise issues that I think, um, are important. I mean, I think that, you know, the sovereignty of the American military, et cetera. I mean, these are not just crank issues. Um, but unfortunately, Buchanan raises them in a way that I think is discredited. And when it's hacked, he can always fall back on the line, well, the, you know, the tiny cabal that controls American politics doesn't like me because I speak truth to power. This is actually incidentally almost verbaten what he said the other day, that I offend the plutocracy, um, that I'm a wants man by the inside, the beltway, people, in in every sense, cast himself as a victim who is sort of a Karen Silkwood of politics, someone who's, uh, so truthful that he's being hunted down by the by the conspiracy that runs Washington. I mean, it's all a bit much. Maybe Pepppy can just says things that are kind of kooky, and that's why he's being criticized. It's perfectly valid to question America's relationship with Israel. Israel has a lobby. It's perfectly fair, as far as I'm concerned, to beat up on Israel's lobby. But I don't think that's the reason that began as being labeled an anti Semite. It's this kind of, as I've said, this relentless, this relentless bringing up topics related to, Judaism. I mean, famously Pat, you know, always beats up on Goldman Sachs, but never Morgan Stanley. I mean, it's it's really hard to There is no point at which Pat Buchan has held a press conference and said, you know, I really don't like the Jews. I think there's sinister force in America." But I think, um, and it took me years to come to this to this position. I mean, I'm not throwing the term anti semi around, but you reach your point when you say, well, gee, you know, here's a guy who is gone out of his way to defend, to Myanyuk and other accused, um, Nazi war criminals, who's constantly attacked Israel, who's attacked, uh, American Jews were supporting Israel unduly, who's implied that American Jews push America into wars in which non Jews die. There really is, and again, I'm not hysterical on the subject, but I do believe that there is a pattern with Pat Buchanan of needling the Jews. Is that anti Semitic? Yeah, I mean, after a while, you conclude, it is, in some sense, anti Semitic. I mean, Pat, if you can't, obviously, there's a lot of personal and affectionate relationships with people who are Jewish. Um, so on a personal level, perhaps he's not, but on a different, maybe thematic level, I think he probably is. I think that people should be allowed to have different views on immigration. I think people should be allowed to point out the fact that there is an Israeli lobby, and yes, it's powerful and debate the merits of that, I guess. Um, I don't think they're strictly speaking, anything wrong with that, but, again, I think Pat Buchanan is part of the reason it's so hard to have that conversation because he discredits it, by his by his presence, because he, uh, gives people who watch him carefully in the sense that he has another agenda that has to do with personal dislike in that he believes in conspiracies and and that he believes that the Jews are this sinister, secretly organized force, um, trying to affect American politics, and those aren't discussions, I think, normal people, uh, sober people should be having, because I think they're ludicrous.
The clip is part of Washington Journal’s “News Review” segment shared on C-SPAN, from September 1999
