Charlie didn't hate Jews. He loved Jews. He had tons of friends who were Jews. He loved the state of Israel. He loved going there. He did not like Bibi Netanyahu. And he said that to me many times. Well, Tucker Carlson's warpath against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is continuing, [00:00:16] and he is defending Charlie Kirk and essentially excoriating Benjamin Netanyahu for exploiting Kirk's death for his own political means, his own political messaging. And I'm really glad he's doing it, because I found it particularly strange. [00:00:34] It really turned me off, and it was definitely in poor taste. And so what's really going on here? Now, look, before we get to some of the other conservatives who are pushing back against Netanyahu, let's rewind a little bit and just remember what he said [00:00:50] just one day after Kirk's assassination. So Netanyahu joined Fox News to discuss his relationship with Kirk, and here's what he had to say. Say that we're just heartbroken. Myself, my my wife, my family, my son, actually. [00:01:08] And his 2019 visit to Israel had lunch with him and his wife, Erica. Were shattered first as human beings, because a great human being has been taken from us. He's was an extraordinary friend. [00:01:28] Okay, so he's talking about, his close, cozy, friendly relationship with Charlie Kirk. And then on Monday, Vice President J.D. Vance hosted the Charlie Kirk show and featured a number of guests, including Tucker Carlson. And Carlson took some pretty obvious shots at Netanyahu, but he didn't name him. [00:01:47] So take a look at what he had to say in response. I think now is exactly the wrong time to appropriate the memory of someone and the and the emotion that comes with that, the really intense emotion that all of us feel at his murder and use it for your own parochial ends. [00:02:03] Like he stood for this, you know. And I think the reason that Charlie was able to bridge the gap, particularly in foreign policy, is because he had, for example, genuine affection for Israel, which he expressed to me in private many, many times, like I love Israel. I don't think we should have another forever war [00:02:20] or regime change war against Iran. I don't think it's helpful to for people to jump in, particularly foreign heads of state, to say, this is what he lived for, my cause or whatever. That's disgusting. Actually, don't do that. So clearly he's talking about Netanyahu there. [00:02:36] And then Tucker Carlson has a special in honor of Charlie Kirk. Our very own Jake Unger was part of it. And we're going to discuss that in just a moment. But before Jake came on, Tucker Carlson engaged in a monologue and he didn't pull any punches. So here's what he had to say. [00:02:54] I was Is shocked and sickened by the reaction of the ghoulish and really repulsive reaction of the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, to Charlie's death. Basically made it all about him and all about his country, immediately [00:03:10] trying to take the energy, the sadness, the grief that people felt over Charlie's murder and redirect it toward support for whatever project he's involved in. And by the way, Benjamin Netanyahu is not the same as the nation of Israel at all. [00:03:26] Bibi is despised by many people in Israel. And if you know people who live there, you know that that's true. There are huge divisions within the Israeli government. I mean, there are certain parts of the the Intel world in Israel that do not support some things that Benjamin Netanyahu has done recently. So it's not the same as attacking Israel, attacking Bibi. [00:03:44] But I, I don't think I've ever seen anything lower than his attempt to hijack Charlie's memory and use it for his own political ends, particularly because what he said was completely untrue. What he said is completely untrue. So what does that mean? [00:04:01] Does that mean that Charlie Kirk was actually against Israel? No, that's not what Tucker Carlson claimed at all. Instead, he talked specifically about what Charlie Kirk had said to him about his relationship with Netanyahu. So one more clip and then I want to hear your thoughts. [00:04:18] Jake. Charlie didn't hate Jews. He loved Jews. He had tons of friends who were Jews. He loved the state of Israel. He loved going there. He did not like Bibi Netanyahu. And he said that to me many times. And he said to people around him many times he felt that Bibi Netanyahu was a very destructive force. [00:04:35] He was appalled by what was happening in Gaza. He was, above all, resentful that he believed Netanyahu was using the United States to prosecute his wars for the benefit of his country, and that it was shameful and embarrassing and bad for the United States. [00:04:53] And he resented it. Didn't hate Netanyahu. He wasn't out there with a placard saying that. But he certainly expressed that to me and a lot of other people. And there's no question that Bibi's defenders on the internet will call me a liar or a kook. But that's a fact. [00:05:08] And enough text messages exist that I think it can probably be verified in pretty short order. Well, you know, Senator Ted Cruz, who is, you know, bought off by the Israel lobby, did call him a liar and a kook, effectively. [00:05:26] We'll get to that in just a minute. But, Jenk, you know, we know Charlie mostly as someone who defended Israel and everything Israel was up to. But there had been some serious examples in recent years where he was critical of, you know, some of what the Israeli government was up to. [00:05:45] Certainly after October 7th, he went on the podcast and kind of questioned whether the government allowed it to happen, whether there were stand down orders, and now we have some IDF testimony where they're claiming that they were told to stand down. [00:06:01] What do you make of what Tucker Carlson is saying here? Yeah, I don't find any of it surprising or controversial. So let's start with Netanyahu. So he did not like Netanyahu. Is that a controversial position? No. 99.8% of the world doesn't like Benjamin Netanyahu. [00:06:21] And in fact, I don't know a single person in America that likes Netanyahu. And that includes dozens of Jewish friends. I don't want to say hundreds. I think it might be hundreds, but of whatever the number is, I don't know, a single Jewish American that says, oh, yeah, Netanyahu is my guy. [00:06:37] In fact, every Jewish American I know says, oh, God damn Netanyahu. Right. As we would say, as Turkish Americans about Erdogan or a Russian American might say about Putin, etc.. That's the most normal thing in the world. Is there an obligation to love the politicians of our country? [00:06:53] Is that a new thing? Is Ted Cruz going to find that in the Bible, like, oh, in the Bible? My Bible dictates that I must listen to Benjamin, not the money that AIPAC gave me. But the Bible says I have to bow down to Netanyahu. Is that a new standard? Do we all have to do that now? No. It's absurd. [00:07:09] So any reasonable, thoughtful person would, of course not. Like Benjamin Netanyahu, the butcher of of of Israel. Right. And so there's a giant genocide, ethnic cleansing. Look, obviously Charlie Kirk didn't [00:07:27] he had a nuanced position for sure. Overall, did I agree with Charlie on Israel? No. I thought he defended Israel's actions way too much. Way, way too much. Not even close, right? But did he have those moments that you're talking about, especially two weeks before [00:07:44] he died where he started questioning, hey, what's going on here now? Is that a thing that's just about Charlie Kirk? No. You've seen Megyn Kelly shift her opinion. Piers Morgan very famously shifted his position. [00:08:00] And the list goes on and on. Because why? Because in the beginning, on October 8th, ninth, 10th, you might say, oh my God, of course Israel has a right to, to, you know, try to get Hamas, the terrible people who did October 7th, two years later and their starving children to death. [00:08:17] You'd kind of have to be a monster not to change your position or not to at least for God's sake, question it. So and the other thing that was happening, Anna, is a right wing voters and independent voters all started questioning Israel and have shifted massively on that issue. [00:08:35] So what a lot of the right wing hosts were getting were their own base bubbling up, going, why wait, Charlie, why do we have to give another $310 billion to Israel? Why do we have to finance all their wars? Why do we have to pay for a genocide? Wait. We're pro-life. Why? [00:08:50] Why aren't we bothered by the 20,000 dead kids? Where is that coming from? One facts. Two. Tom Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Tucker Carlson, etc. Saying, guys, it's true, it's true. This is not propaganda. It's not. No, Israel is actually doing these things. And the guy responsible for that is Benjamin Netanyahu. [00:09:07] So are people pretending to be outraged by that comment? - I mean, that's an absurd thing. - To be. Outraged. I'm going to get I'm going to get to that in just a minute. But as I shared on the show yesterday, guys, you have to also keep in mind like what Charlie's role was was to get young people to support the Republican [00:09:29] Party, you know, namely Donald Trump. But moving forward, you know, whoever the Republican candidate happens to be. And so the way the organization is funded is through wealthy donors. Turning point USA is funded through wealthy donors. [00:09:44] We all know this. At the same time, young conservatives, the very group of people that turning point is communicating with, does not support. Israel sees what's going on for what it is. So there was this very uncomfortable tension and this tug of war between [00:10:04] the pro-Israel donors and the, you know, Israel critical young conservatives. And so I think that that led to Charlie Kirk maybe thinking for himself a little bit on the issue. And those were the moments where I think he articulated correctly what was wrong [00:10:24] with the current Israeli government. And, you know, how what they're carrying out, especially in trying to egg on a hot war between the United States and Iran is not a good thing for the United States. He was vehemently against invading Iran, to his credit. And so I just thought it was really important to push back [00:10:42] against what Netanyahu was doing. I doing. I mean, he's such a sick person, right? To use a political assassination for his own political means, that's the kind of guy Netanyahu is. It is amazing to me how people like him effortlessly make every situation about Israel. [00:10:57] It really is incredible. But in regard to those, hold on, Jake, in regard to those who are pushing back against, Tucker Carlson is Senator Ted Cruz, who was humiliated by Carlson on Carlson's show because he's just a dog for Israel and doesn't even know how to answer simple questions like, [00:11:14] why do you think, in order to be a good Christian, you need to support the current government of Israel. Didn't have a real good answer for that, did he? And also revealed that he doesn't even read the Bible, doesn't know what's in the Bible. But here's what Ted Cruz said in response to Tucker Carlson. I'm getting really tired of Tucker and his cronies falsely claiming Charlie [00:11:33] agreed with me, that Israel is terrible. And the problem in America is all the damn Jews. Tucker Carlson actually said the opposite of that. He did not say that Charlie Kirk hated the Jews. I knew Charlie well, and indeed, the very last conversation we had [00:11:51] was how deeply concerned he was about the rising wave of anti-Semitism on the right. I just love how everyone who knew Charlie Kirk seems to be using, like, their final conversation with Kirk, allegedly to push their own political views. [00:12:06] But yeah, I've got some. Look, this is what I mean. This is who Ted Cruz is. I mean, he knows who butters his bread. Okay, so here's the AIPAC tracker, and it shows that he's received nearly $2 million from the Israel lobby. [00:12:24] No, no. No Bibles. No. The Bible says you have to support Netanyahu. That's why the $2 million is irrelevant to him. Right. So, okay. I mean, it's such a joke. God. One thing I love about this entire thing, right? The whole controversy around Israel and AIPAC and the in the donors, etc. [00:12:42] Is that people are all waking up in mass. It's the donors, stupid. And is it just Jewish donors? Of course not. Is it just donors about Israel? Of course not. Big Pharma has been robbing us blind, right? Big oil takes $35 billion out of our pockets. [00:12:58] That's nearly ten times what Israel takes every single year. The defense contractors rob us to no end. And almost every industry does. So when people notice Aipac's contributions to some politician [00:13:14] like Ted Cruz, and then they go, oh, that's why Ted Cruz is kissing Netanyahu's ass because he's paid to. Then you begin to realize, oh, that's why they're all saying drill, baby, drill. Because they all got paid by ExxonMobil and their PAC. [00:13:29] That's why none of them will negotiate drug prices in in a capitalist country. I mean, Tucker and I talked about that last night, too. So this is About Israel. This is about how none of our politicians work for us. They're on higher. [00:13:45] They're rented out by different governments and corporations and lobbies, etc.. So now in terms of appropriating Charlie's memory, I mean, it would be I mean, can you imagine like, okay, sure. I'll give you two examples. One is if I came out, I was like, you know what, Charlie Kirk? [00:14:01] You know, the last thing he told me was that he loved Medicare for all and wanted Bernie Sanders to be the next president. Come on. - So. Like, it's so sick. - Come on, people. - Doing this. - Right. So we're the only ones who keep saying we disagree with Charlie, but. [00:14:17] Right. Instead of pretending that he was 100% on our side as Netanyahu was, etc.. So the other examples, imagine if someone on the right more plausible, right heritage Foundation, if the head of the Heritage Foundation, very right wing think tank project 2025. [00:14:34] ET cetera. ET cetera. Right. If he came out, the CEO of Heritage Foundation was like Charlie before he passed away. He said. The Heritage Foundation is the greatest thing ever and you should all support the Heritage Foundation. You'd be like, oh my God, what a cheesy jerk. [00:14:51] Oh, it's just so distasteful. Now Netanyahu does the same exact thing and you criticize him as you would anyone, and Ted Cruz and everybody else jumps in anti-Semite. Are you kidding me? Get the hell I mean, you guys sound ludicrous [00:15:07] because that's their one trick pony. One trick pony on this side is give me money, give me money, give me money, give me 2 million, 1 million, 3 million. Give me money. Okay. And then the other side is. Give me more. Give me more. Anti-semite. Anti-semite. No one's allowed to question Israel. Well, guess what, Ted Cruz? [00:15:22] Guess what? The entire United States government. Yes, Joe Biden, yes, Donald Trump. We're questioning Israel. So sad day for you. Go cry into your money, into your bag of cash. Oh. Oh, yeah? Who bribed me? [00:15:38] Oh, I wonder if I'm gonna keep getting bribes. - I'm gonna call everybody. - And say we're sick of you. We're sick of the bribes from any source. And then one more thing. Anna. So there was a discussion of pro-Israel donors, right, that were giving to Charlie Kirk and Tucker, and the show talked about because he had Tucker. [00:15:56] Come on. And you remember that speech that Tucker Carlson gave that you and I called kind of historic? Such an interesting the first time that a major figure like that on the right had come out and said, why? Why do we owe Israel? Why do we have to keep giving them money? [00:16:13] It's a fair question to ask about any ally UK, Canada, etc.. That infuriated those pro-Israel donors and they threatened to pull money. And then they did pull money. And so, by the way, is that surprising? [00:16:30] Well, they're in favor of Israel. They want propaganda for Israel. So once they don't get the propaganda that they paid for. They say that I don't want it. Then I'm going to take your money away. I paid you to be pro-Israel, and if you're not going to be 100% pro-Israel, I'm taking the money. [00:16:46] Is that a controversial thing? Do you think ExxonMobil would keep giving money to any show that they were funding if they wound up criticizing ExxonMobil? So but yet we live in this insane, ludicrous world where when you say things [00:17:01] that are logical, it's not even offensive. They say anti-Semite. Come on, guys, come on. So there's no pro-Israel donors that care about Israel and base their funding on Israel. Who would be ludicrous enough to say that? [00:17:17] But if you say things that are obviously true, you get called an anti-Semite. Why, of course, for their own political propaganda purposes. So it's it just doesn't work at all anymore. They look like ridiculous, sellout losers working for a foreign government.