Trump nominee stalls after Republican presses him on remarks about Jews and Israel
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s pick for a top State Department post is facing bipartisan opposition after a Republican senator pressed the nominee over his past remarks on Israel and the Holocaust.
Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, spoke out against the nomination of Jeremy Carl to be assistant secretary of state for international organizations after Thursday’s confirmation hearing, during which he challenged Carl over comments he made as recently as 2024.
“After reviewing his record and participating in today’s hearing, I do not believe Jeremy Carl is the right person to represent our nation’s best interests in international forums, and I find his anti-Israel views and insensitive remarks toward the Jewish people unworthy of the position to which he was nominated,” Curtis said in a statement.
Carl told NBC News in a statement responding to Curtis’ opposition that he was still “confident that the majority of senators will understand these political games and support my confirmation to the State Department, as President Trump intends.”
“It’s never pleasant to be falsely accused, but I am grateful for the continued support of the White House,” he added.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Curtis’ statement.
Curtis’ opposition essentially blocks Carl’s nomination. Republicans have a 12-10 majority on the Foreign Relations Committee, meaning any GOP vote against him leaves the nomination tied 11-11 and prevents him from advancing to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.
During one exchange, Curtis asked about Carl’s response to a podcast host’s question in 2024.
“He said that the State of Israel is not a victim but rather a perpetrator. And he said: How long are you going to rest on the Holocaust? Because from the way you treat the Palestinians now. He was the host, but here’s your response: ‘Well, that’s true. Yeah, no, I mean, I think it’s true,'” Curtis said.
Carl is a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington. He was deputy secretary of the Interior during Trump’s first term.
The State Department position to which he was appointed involves implementing U.S. policy at the United Nations and other multilateral organizations.
In another exchange Thursday, Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, asked Carl “how you define white identity and what you think is erased about white identity.”
“I’m concerned about the common majority American culture that we’ve had for a while, which, particularly because of mass immigration, has become much more balkanized, and I think that weakens us. And again, I’m not running away from that comment,” Carl said as part of his response.
Murphy later posted a clip of the exchange on social media and called Carl a “legitimate white nationalist.”
The Claremont Institute did not respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.
A CNN KFile investigation last year found that Carl deleted thousands of social media posts before his nomination, but that many inflammatory posts focused on race and religion were still recoverable.
Carl’s confirmation hearing came a day after a member of Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, Carrie Prejean Boller, was ousted over remarks she made about anti-Semitism and Israel.
