The Trump administration’s nominee to oversee the United Nations and other multilateral bodies at the U.S. State Department withdrew from consideration on Tuesday after senators grilled him last month over past comments about Jews, Israel and race.
Jeremy Carl, a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, said that his nomination was no longer viable as he lacked unanimous support from Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“Unfortunately, at this time, this unanimous support was not forthcoming,” Carl wrote. “I accept that political reality and do not wish to have the president, Secretary Rubio or the rest of his team waste valuable time and energy attempting to change that decision.”
In January, Trump nominated Carl to be assistant secretary of state for international organizations, a role that supervises U.S. policy regarding the United Nations and its subsidiaries.
At his nomination hearing in February, Carl floundered under intense questioning about his record of incendiary comments and said he regretted his comments downplaying the significance of the Holocaust.
“Sometimes, I take an idea too far, and I made some comments in interviews about minimizing the effect of the Holocaust that were absolutely wrong,” he said.
Carl, who was born Jewish but converted to Christianity, also faced questions about his claims that there is a “genocide” against white people underway in the United States, and that America spends too much “time and energy” on Israel.
His positions on Israel, in particular, seem to have cost him the support of Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), who said after the hearing that he would not vote for Carl.
