US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaking at a press conference about the United States restricting weapons for Israel, at the US Capitol, Washington, DC. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

US Sen. Ted Cruz (TX) raised alarm bells this week over what he described as “rising antisemitism” on the political right, warning that podcaster and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is “turning into Ilhan Omar,” the far-left US lawmaker, by spreading anti-Israel and even antisemitic rhetoric.

Cruz made the remarks on Wednesday during an event at the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank, where he also discussed his legislation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates, including Hamas, as foreign terrorist organizations.

Cruz criticized Carlson for questioning Hamas’s status as a terrorist group and for hosting guests who have minimized historical atrocities, including the Holocaust. He expressed concern that antisemitism could be emerging as a more potent political force on the right. 

“I will say I am concerned about rising antisemitism on the right,” Cruz said. “In the last six months, what we’ve seen on the right has been deeply disturbing.”

The conservative lawmaker specifically pointed to Carlson, a right-wing commentator and online provocateur.

“Tucker Carlson is turning into Ilhan Omar. This is bizarre. This is ridiculous,” Cruz added.

In a June interview with Cruz, Carlson questioned the merits of the US-Israel alliance, asking why lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) shouldn’t register as foreign agents and whether the US was receiving adequate returns on its financial support to Israel. Cruz, a staunch supporter of Israel, suggested Carlson’s questions were motivated by antisemitism, leading to a heated exchange between the two.

“You’re asking, ‘Why are the Jews controlling our foreign policy?'” Cruz stated. “If you’re not an antisemite, give me another reason why the obsession is Israel.”

Omar has established herself as harsh critic of Israel who has accused the Jewish state of committing “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza and erecting an “apartheid” government in the West Bank. The lawmaker has also publicly declared support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS), an initiative which seeks to turn the Jewish state into an international pariah as a first step to its eventual destruction.

Omar further drew backlash on Thursday over her comments regarding the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk this week.

Omar strongly criticized attempts to frame Kirk purely as an advocate of civil debate, calling such portrayals “full of s**t” and a “complete rewriting of history.”

“These people are out there talking about him just wanting to have a civil debate,” Omar said. “It’s important for us to call them out while we feel anger and sadness.”

“What I do know for sure is that, you know, Charlie was someone who once said, you know, guns save lives after a school shooting. Charlie was someone who was willing to debate and downplay the death of George Floyd in the hands of Minneapolis police,” she stated. 

Omar also said that Kirk inflamed racial tensions through downplaying “slavery and what Black people have gone through in this country by saying Juneteenth should never exist.”