The Anti-Defamation League decried podcast host Megyn Kelly for blaming Bari Weiss and Ben Shapiro, both of whom are Jewish, for causing antisemitism.
In an interview with Vanity Fair magazine, Kelly said Weiss, editor-in-chief of CBS News, and Shapiro, co-founder of the Daily Wire, “are making antisemites.”
She added that “Tucker is not making antisemites. They are.”
Shapiro named Kelly in his speech on the opening night of Turning Point USA’s America Fest in Phoenix on Dec.18. He said that the former Fox News and former NBC News host, who now has a podcast with a very large following, has withheld criticism of the podcaster Candace Owens, who regularly makes antisemitic statements and blamed members of Turning Point for killing the student movement’s founder, Charlie Kirk, on Sept. 10.
Shapiro did not mention Israel in his speech.
“Megyn Kelly’s recent comments cross a dangerous line,” the ADL stated. “Accusing Jews of ‘making antisemites’ blames Jewish people for the hate directed against them—a classic victim-blaming trope.”
The ADL added that “calling Ben Shapiro ‘Israel first’ invokes the age-old antisemitic dual loyalty trope that has fueled persecution and hatred against Jews for centuries.”
The group said that it has “documented time and again how this kind of rhetoric from public figures helps normalize antisemitism and may even endanger Jewish communities.”
