We should not unite with right-wing antisemites
This week, an online debate erupted on X after an idea was pushed — most notably by The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh — that the right-wing must unite in order to “win”.
“The Right doesn’t stick together,” Matt Walsh posted. “That’s our biggest problem by far. Conservatives are quick to denounce each other, jump on dogpiles, disavow, attack their allies. I said a few weeks ago that we all need to band together in the wake of Charlie’s death and the answer I got back from a lot of people on the Right was, basically, no. Well okay then, guys. We’ll just lose instead. The Left will keep up the united front and defend their guys no matter what while we keep throwing each other to the wolves at every opportunity. Great plan.”
Given that Matt Walsh failed to name any actual names, we were left wondering who he was talking about. Perhaps this all-too-vague post was in reference to the condemnation by some of a supposedly shocking Politico exposé of objectively objectionable messages shared by several Young Republican members including racist, misogynistic, and antisemitic content, with Vice President J.D. Vance running defense for these particularly smooth-brained individuals by pushing out a game of whataboutism and referencing the — far worse — comments by Democratic candidate for Virginia Attorney General, Jay Jones.
Or perhaps it was in reference to the broader so-called debate within the so-called right-wing over issues like whether or not Jews control the United States, were responsible for 9/11, and are engaged in a campaign of genocide in Gaza — a viewpoint being openly pushed by high-profile and influential figures like Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson — the latter of whom sits on the left shoulder of J.D. Vance like a giggling garden gnome who is blown away by the average Russian supermarket.
Regardless, it remains true that every principle — whether political or cultural — must have a limiting factor, a line used to define the difference between order and chaos. When it comes to the American Right, if we agree on the axiomatic point that the American Right is predicated on a core set of beliefs, then doesn’t it matter what those beliefs are and whether the members of the American Right adhere to them? If we don’t agree that the American Right has a core set of beliefs, then we’re essentially engaged in a team sports fight to the death with no rules whatsoever. And so, assuming the existence of these core beliefs, how should we treatt hose who do not hold a shred of those beliefs in their hearts?
Let’s set aside Politico’s hit piece on the offensive and dumb rantings of an unknown collection of frankly irrelevant young men, since they do not deserve our support nor our defense but also hardly deserve harsher scorn than other figures with immeasurably more power and influence.
Looking instead at the entire right-wing spectrum, what about, for example, open Nazis and white supremacists who have a blatant disregard for individual equality that exists beyond skin color? If they define themselves as not being left-wing, should we refuse to condemn them? Furthermore, should we unite with them to “win”? What about those who view essential values like the First Amendment as more of an obstacle than an inalienable right? In Matt Walsh’s case, what about transgender Trump voters who believe in the genital mutilation of children?!
Now, after this debate erupted, Matt Walsh followed up on social media by adding “context,” noting that he wants to “stop the in-fighting and unite against” the threat of the Left and that “the squabbles among right wingers just kind of pale in comparison for me” considering the threats to his and his family’s lives.
“If you have the luxury to care more about that, I envy you. I truly do,” Walsh added.
Now, it’s obviously horrific that Matt Walsh faces threats of violence for voicing his political, cultural, and religious opinions. We must ask, then, whether Walsh is blind to the equally-horrific threats of violence gushing from the edges of the same right-wing with whom he wishes to unite, simply because those threats (for now) are not directed at him? If he were to consider that right-wing American Jews — like myself — and those who proudly stand alongside us are routinely targeted with threats of violence by the Left and the Right, would he still demand that we put these “squabbles” aside and unite alongside those who — on a daily basis — call me a filthy Jew?
Sorry, no, it’s not happening.
Finally, the last time I checked, we were already winning without embracing the worst among our ranks. We have Donald Trump — the most pro-Israel and pro-Jewish president in history, to the chagrin of J.D. Vance and others — in the White House, while his Republican Party controls the House and the Senate, we have a conservative majority in the Supreme Court, and countless state legislative, executive, and judicial bodies are similarly conservative!
Call me crazy, but I’ll choose this sort of winning while also working to keep the worst fringes of our own side from becoming mainstream, lest I have no political home left. That means calling out the Left, yes, but it also means gatekeeping what we’re even fighting for in the first place. If we don’t do that, what it is to “win” becomes meaningless.