Jeremy Carl's nomination as assistant secretary of state for international organizations collapsed after a contentious Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on February 12, 2026, where Republican Sen. John Curtis and all Democrats questioned his record of antisemitic and anti-Israel remarks. Curtis announced his opposition, stating he could not support Carl given his "anti-Israel views and insensitive remarks about the Jewish people," which would block the nomination from advancing out of committee.
During the hearing, Carl defended comments claiming the U.S. prioritizes Israel excessively and that "white Americans are undergoing cultural genocide" through immigration and diversity initiatives. When pressed by Sen. Chris Murphy to define white culture, Carl cited differences in churches, food, and music—pointing to a Spanish-language Super Bowl halftime performance as evidence of cultural erasure. Carl explicitly affirmed the Great Replacement Theory, stating the Democratic Party "through its immigration policies has certainly shown signs of that" intentional effort to replace white Americans with immigrants.
Sen. Cory Booker extracted partial concessions from Carl on Holocaust minimization, with Carl acknowledging past comments "downplaying the effects of the Holocaust" were "absolutely wrong." Carl also disputed being a racial nationalist, claiming instead to be a "civic nationalist" concerned with "majority common American culture" becoming "balkanized" through mass immigration. However, Carl refused to renounce his belief that white Americans face discrimination or to specify which aspects of white identity require protection.
In neo-Nazi literature, they argue that multi-ethnic societies are inherently unstable. They point to the "Balkanization" of the U.S. to claim that different races cannot coexist peacefully, eventually leading to a "race war" or a total national collapse.
By claiming the country is already "Balkanized," neo-Nazis argue that the only solution is formal separation, the creation of a "White Ethnostate." They view this as a return to a "natural" order where heredity and geography align.
For example, in Carl’s mention of the Super Bowl halftime show not being in English, "Balkanization" is framed as a loss for the "majority." In this worldview, the presence of other languages or cultures doesn't add to the whole; it subtracts from a specific "white culture" that they believe should be the national standard.
Sen. Jacky Rosen condemned Carl's recorded statement that "the Jews love to see themselves as oppressed," rejecting his Jewish heritage—Carl converted to Christianity—as justification for antisemitic rhetoric. She framed a vote for Carl as disrespecting Jewish Americans and Holocaust survivors. Sen. Booker additionally condemned Carl for defending January 6 Capitol rioters, accusing him of lacking "decency" and "honor" and of disgracing the legacy of those who died serving the nation.
Sen. Jeff Merkley challenged Carl's qualifications, noting his complete absence of staff experience at the U.N. or in diplomatic roles and his inability to articulate specific policy positions on United Nations organizations. Carl's evasiveness on whether other U.S. allies receive excessive attention, combined with his failure during the hearing to substantively address antisemitic rhetoric he had previously encountered, led Curtis to question whether Carl could credibly push back against anti-Israel and antisemitic agendas presented by foreign diplomats.
(Source: https://jewishinsider.com/2026/02/jeremy-carl-nomination-hearing-antisemitism-john-curtis/)
