Charlie Kirk Was Not an Antisemite – Mea Culpa
My apologies to the late Charlie Kirk, to his widow Erika Kirk, and to his $85 million non-profit organization, Turning Point USA.
Charlie Kirk was not an antisemite. He was a pure philosemite.
What is philosemitism?
The term is best explained by the American Jewish Committee in its article published February 15, 2024 and titled, “10 Tough Questions on Antisemitism Explained”
What is Philosemitism?
Disproportionate focus on Jews – even if positive – may hint at underlying prejudice, if not nefarious intent.
Philosemitism is a special interest in, respect for, or admiration for Jewish people, Jewish history, or Jewish stereotypes. And therein lies the problem. For example, a philosemite might prefer to hire Jewish lawyers or accountants because they believe no one manages money as well as a Jew. Journalist Yair Rosenberg sums it up this way: “At worst, given the right impetus, the coin of philo-Semitic antisemitism can easily be flipped, and all those formerly positive stereotypes can be weaponized against Jews.”
Philosemitism is also considered problematic when it creates a “good Jew-bad Jew” dichotomy – such as favoring Orthodox Jews over non-Orthodox, or non-Zionist Jews over Zionist Jews, or Jewish Republicans over Jewish Democrats.
Christian Evangelical Zionism can also be a problematic form of philosemitism. While Christian Zionists strongly support the Jewish state, a small number are pre-millennial dispensationalists, meaning they only support bringing Jews to Israel because they believe it will bring about the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus. This treats Jews as a means to an end and also a target for conversion. It can even set the stage for scapegoating the Jews when the Rapture doesn’t come as expected.
Was Charlie Kirk an antisemite or a philosemite?
There are at least five recorded antisemitic statements by Charlie Kirk over the last few years.
1- Jewish philanthropy “subsidizing your own demise”.
2- “Jews control … the colleges, the nonprofits, the movies, Hollywood, all of it”
3- “The number one funding mechanism… is Jewish donors”
4- Casting Jews as drivers of “anti-white” politics
5- ‘Antisemitism is being misused to justify censorship’
The most interesting aspect of philosemitism is that it is extremely difficult to “pin down” a philosemite as being an antisemite. They are always “moving the goalposts”. Snide remarks about control over the media, or Jewish doctors, lawyers and accounts can be anti-emitic or just insensitive.
“What did I say?”
“Isn’t it true that the best doctors, lawyers and accountants are Jews?”
The fact is that philosemitism is a form of racism. Similar to racism against blacks, when a “Jew” or a “Black person” gets too “uppity” then it’s time to show them their place.
Charlie Kirk was not an antisemite.
But Charlie Kirk was a philosemite.
