Prominent conservatives have rebuked right-wing pundit Michelle Malkin, who spoke at an event last week hosted by anti-Semitic and alt-right figures, where she questioned what is anti-Semitic.
The America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28 featured anti-Semite and Holocaust-denier Nicholas Fuentes; Scott Greer, a former editor at The Daily Caller who wrote for the alt-right Radix Journal, founded by white-supremacist Richard Spencer; and Patrick Casey, executive director of the white-nationalist group Identity Evropa.
At AFPAC, Malkin said:
Already right out of the gate, before I even knew who Nick Fuentes was, before I knew who Groypers were, I was being tarred as an anti-Semite. It’s become a useless, meaningless term and everybody knows it. And that’s why they’re so desperate to tar all of us as that.
It’s anti-Semitic to mention George Soros’s billions. It’s anti-Semitic to criticize the Anti-Defamation League. It’s anti-Semitic to question whatever the precise number is of people who perished in World War II. It is anti-Semitic for me, being married to a 100% Ashkenazi Jew, to question dual loyalties of people who are working here as agents of a foreign country.
Oh, and it is an unacceptably anti-Semitic to point out the rank hypocrisy of people who are fiercely protective of an ethno-state and an immigration enforcement system that works–who turn around and call those of us who believe, whatever our backgrounds are, who only have one homeland that they’ve ever known, to call us– what is it now?–“white majoritarianism” I believe is the term.” That’s me. Thank you.
Wherein Michelle Malkin expresses her anger and outrage that it is considered antisemitic to engage in Holocaust revisionism, accuse Jews of being more loyal to Israel than America, and to fearmonger about rich Jewish puppetmasters pic.twitter.com/DFr3OSzVcI
— דער יידישער ארבעטער (@JewishWorker) March 1, 2020
Fuentes and his followers call themselves “Groypers”—a reference to the cartoon toad that is similar to the alt-right “Pepe the Frog.”
Fuentes and his followers have interrupted conservative events on college campuses, including ones hosted by the conservative Young America’s Foundation (YAF) and pro-Trump group Turning Point USA. The hecklers usually ask speakers about U.S. assistance for Israel and immigration as a way to push their anti-Semitic agenda into mainstream conservatism.
Malkin has praised Fuentes as “one of the New Right leaders.”
Fuentes has a history of both anti-Semitic remarks and similar social-media posts.
YAF cut ties in November with Malkin as a member of the organization’s campus lecture program.
Conservatives on Twitter slammed Malkin for her AFPAC remarks.
“I’ve been reading Malkin for probably a decade, and I once admired her. This is disgusting,” tweeted National Review and New York Post writer David Harsanyi. “I said a decade, but it’s probably more like two now that I think about it.”
I said a decade, but it's probably more like two now that I think about it .
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) March 3, 2020
David French, senior editor of The Dispatch, replied to Harsanyi: “Agreed. Pathetic.”
“Michelle Malkin claims ‘questioning the numbers of the Holocaust’ isn’t antisemitic and neither is questioning the ‘dual loyaltie’ of ‘foreign agents,’” tweeted pro-Israel philanthropist and activist Adam Milstein. “You read that right … ”
(Editorial Disclosure: Adam Milstein is a financial supporter of JNS.)
Michelle Malkin claims “questioning the numbers of the Holocaust” isn’t antisemitic and neither is questioning the ״dual loyalties״ of “foreign agents”🧐
You read that right…https://t.co/kHmIMQsZ0T
— Adam Milstein (@AdamMilstein) March 2, 2020
“The fall of Michelle Malkin should be leading the conservative movement to ask some uncomfortable questions of itself about how mainstream her views were … Has she changed? If not, what does that say about us?” tweeted conservative writer Bethany Mandel, who linked her article about Malkin in Ricochet.
Gun-rights activist Antonia Okafor Cover replied to Mandel, “Ha! It took this article for me to realize she blocked me. Glad I stopped a Republican group here in Colorado from almost hiring her to speak. We have nothing to stand on if we can not stand for the Truth. They have the freedom to speak but not to identify as Republicans.”
Ha! It took this article for me to realize she blocked me. Glad I stopped a Republican group here in Colorado from almost hiring her to speak. We have nothing to stand on if we can not stand for the Truth. They have the freedom to speak but not to identify as Republicans. pic.twitter.com/uXIKuOmzQm
— Antonia Okafor Cover (@antonia_okafor) March 3, 2020
“Here’s the thing: Michelle Malkin is a huckster who invents her invective to reflect whatever she thinks will be popular with her audience. That she feels there is now an audience for blatant anti-Semitism (in her current hard-right circle) should worry every decent conservative,” tweeted Tablet senior writer Yair Rosenberg.
Here's the thing: Michelle Malkin is a huckster who invents her invective to reflect whatever she thinks will be popular with her audience. That she feels there is now an audience for blatant anti-Semitism (in her current hard-right circle) should worry every decent conservative. https://t.co/35NmrwEBUF
— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) March 3, 2020