WASHINGTON — Senators condemned Jeremy Carl, President Trump’s nominee for assistant secretary of state for international organizations, during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Thursday.
The confirmation hearing allowed senators to probe four Trump nominees. Most of the scrutiny focused on Carl, who has a history of antisemitic and racist rhetoric online, which has mostly been scrubbed off the internet. His role as assistant secretary of state would involve handling relationships and policies with the United Nations and its agencies, including human rights and anti-discrimination issues.
In Trump’s first term, Carl served as deputy assistant secretary of the interior. He’s currently a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank dedicated to restoring America’s founding principles.
Members from both parties on the committee questioned Carl’s controversial online presence. Ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., noted that Carl continued to make anti-semitic and racist comments even after his nomination last June.
“How can this committee trust that you can represent the United States of America to the rest of the world in an unbiased manner when you have taken no steps to restrain your conduct after your nomination?” Shaheen said.
Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said one of Carl’s core responsibilities is countering systemic antisemitism and anti-Israel bias in international organizations. He then cited a podcast appearance in which Carl said the United States spends too much time on Israel and questioned whether Carl is suited for the position.
As a Jewish woman and mother, Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said she felt compelled to call out Carl’s record of antisemitic statements. She pointed to one remark in which he said, “The Jews love to see themselves as oppressed.”
“[I’m] simply tired of advancing nominees who I doubt will be respected on the world stage,” Rosen said. “You must vote against Mr. Carl’s nomination.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-N.Y., also brought up Carl’s racist rhetoric against other groups of minorities. He had previously called the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation and banned employment discrimination, an “anti-white weapon.” In an exchange with Murphy, Carl admitted that anti-white discrimination is the most salient form of racism today.
“Certainly this is my belief,” Carl said. “I’m not running away from that.”
Murphy said that underlying Carl’s beliefs is a sentiment that white culture is simply better, which Carl vehemently disagreed with.
“I appreciate you being very honest that you believe that white Americans are subject to greater amounts of discrimination in this country than black Americans. I do not think that’s a sentiment that is shared broadly on this committee,” Murphy said. “It is all what makes you just wildly, wildly unqualified to take this post.”
The hearing ended on a tense note as Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., slammed Carl for his blatant racism and belief in racial hierarchies. According to CNN, Carl previously promoted “replacement theory,” which portrays non-white populations and immigrants as threats to America’s future.
“Sir, we are sending you into a very diverse world, and you can’t say unequivocally that [in] America, [it] does not matter what your racial makeup is,” Booker said. “You believe it matters what the racial makeup of America is.”
Booker warned that Carl’s views would undermine the American values he would be tasked with representing.
“Dear god, I pray for us if we let somebody like you represent us to the diverse nations of the world as representing the values of our country,” Booker said.
If the committee allows the nomination to stand, it will move to a full Senate vote where a simple majority is needed for approval.