“Sinclair Lewis published "It Can't Happen Here" 90 years ago, when fascism ruled Italy and was overtaking Germany. He believed it could happen here and told the story of a demagogic senator, Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, whose platform -- inspired by Louisiana's Gov. Huey Long -- promises prosperity to "traditional" Americans if they unite against what one character calls "the Jew Communists and Jew financiers plotting together to control the country."
On July 11, after a day when many of those who identify as "America first" or MAGA were angry over the Trump administration's failure to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, Tucker Carlson offered an explanation to an enthusiastic gathering at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit.
"It's extremely obvious," he said, "to anyone who watches that this guy" -- Epstein -- "had direct connections to a foreign government, and no one's allowed to say that that foreign government is Israel, because we have been somehow cowed into thinking that that's naughty. There is nothing wrong with saying that."
Well, ignoring that everyone who claims "no one's allowed to say that" seems to say nothing but that -- or, as columnist Karol Markowicz posted on X, that "the Mossad is blackmailing everyone but the podcasters" -- there is something wrong with saying that: There's no evidence for it.
Popular culture was once awash with books and movies about the Central Intelligence Agency's omnipotence and omniscience. Those fantasies are now about the Mossad -- which delivers in ways even fiction writers hadn't imagined: exploding Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies, Iranian politicians and scientists wiped out with little harm to civilians.
Whatever else you think of those ops, the Epstein theory -- that Mossad would choose as an American asset a man who'd been convicted of pimping an underage girl and was supposedly pimping many more underage girls to powerful men to make them susceptible to blackmail -- requires a preposterous belief in some of history's oldest antisemitic tropes about the deviously clever puppet-master Jew.
That's why Mr. Carlson's certitude about the Epstein matter demands to be judged against his worldview and track record. Begin with his platforming last September and again this month of podcaster Darryl Cooper, who deems Churchill the villain of World War II and has equated Israel's war in Gaza with Nazi atrocities. Mr. Carlson called Mr. Cooper "America's most honest historian."
Then fast-forward to early June and Mr. Carlson's warning that a U.S. attack would lead Iran to unleash its "fearsome arsenal of ballistic missiles. . . . The first week of a war with Iran could easily kill thousands of Americans." He added that because of its alliance with the so-called Brics bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), "Iran isn't alone. An attack on Iran could very easily lead to a world war. We'd lose."
At the time he wrote that, Mr. Carlson had 16.3 million followers on X (where his podcast is seen). On June 13, when Israel began its attacks on Iran, he urged President Trump to "drop Israel" and "let them fight their own wars" -- and moved up to 16.4 million followers. Which is to say that one of the most public faces of the America-first movement expanded his audience even as he had been proven spectacularly, hilariously, wrong.
Was he chastened? No. After the U.S. attack, he conducted softball interviews with both the prime minister of Qatar, which harbors Hamas's leaders, and Iran's president, whom he didn't bother to ask about Tehran's declared role in trying to assassinate Mr. Trump, while accusing Sen. Ted Cruz of having "an obsession with Israel." Buzz Windrip would be proud.
That Jews were Windrip's primary enemy in the novel, as they were in Hitler's oratory at the same time -- Germany's Nuremberg Laws were passed five weeks before "It Can't Happen Here" was published -- was at odds with how America had historically treated Jews. Never had this country harbored widespread antisemitism of the kind always evident, to one degree or another, in Europe. It was the one country in world history where Jews felt safe.
Oct. 7 changed that. The explosion of antisemitism on both the right and left has been terrifying. People who two years ago wouldn't have dared declare their hatred for Jews now do so proudly on social media, and have plenty of company.
That's what's so insidiously damaging about the claim Mr. Carlson purveyed to his audience that night. These were young people, primarily college-age, and they cheered, suggesting he confirmed what they already believe about Israel and, by extension, Jews. With Epstein as a proxy for Jews, he cunningly changed the subject from his Iran doomsday embarrassment.
Because of the fixation on Israel, the Epstein files will remain a cause celebre, and for as long as they do, Jews hiding behind a metaphorical grassy knoll will be blamed for what's unseen. It's also a good bet that when these files are someday released and dispositively absolve Israel, the truth will be dismissed as one more clever trick of those people.
---
Mr. Engel is author, most recently, of "Scorched Worth: A True Story of Destruction, Deceit, and Government Corruption."” [1]
The Lithuanian elite thrived under Communist’s rule. They would bring cheese and sausages to their Communist bosses. No wonder, people expect that Israelis would bring something salacious to their American bosses. Definitely, American bosses have enough outstanding quality European cheese and sausages.
The assertion that the Lithuanian elite thrived under Communist rule and that this situation draws a parallel to the Jeffrey Epstein case and American-Israeli relations supports antisemitic thinking.
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Here's a breakdown:
Lithuanian Elite under Communism: Indeed members of the Communist Party and those with connections in the Soviet system may have enjoyed certain privileges.
Jeffrey Epstein and Israeli Elite: The suggestion of a connection between Jeffrey Epstein and Israeli elite, particularly the Mossad, is a conspiracy theory that has been widely discussed. The former Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, explicitly denied claims that Epstein worked for the Mossad, calling it “categorically and totally false”. Just believe him. These ideas have been amplified by figures like Tucker Carlson.
It's crucial to differentiate between the actions of individuals and the characteristics of an entire nation or religious group. The United States' Elite and the Israeli elite share strong diplomatic, economic, and cultural ties built on mutual interests and shared values, like the Lithuanian elite and the Soviet Communists' elite once did. In case of Lithuania we know from history that entire nation did not participate in the corruption and didn't get any benefits from it.
1. Can It Happen Here? Ask Tucker Carlson. Engel, Joel. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 19 July 2025: A13.
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