Trump State Department nominee's confirmation in jeopardy after past Holocaust comments
Jeremy Carl, President Donald Trump's nominee for a top job at the State Department, is facing bipartisan pushback from senators of both parties over past racist comments he made and there are growing chances his confirmation could be stalled.
Republican Sen. John Curtis of Utah announced Thursday that he will not support Carl's nomination for the role of assistant secretary of state for international organization after a heated confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier in the day.
During the hearing, senators pressed Carl on past controversial comments about Israel, Jews and the Holocaust.
Carl, a senior fellow at the conservative think tank the Claremont Institute, was asked by Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire about his comments from 2024 on a podcast in which he reportedly said, "Jews have often loved to play the victim."
"This is a pattern,” Shaheen said.
"I unfortunately have to balance that with my current job which involves advocacy. I can’t, as I’ve explained, just totally put away my day job," Carl said in response at Thursday's hearing.
During the hearing, Carl, who served as a deputy assistant secretary of the Interior Department during Trump's first administration, admitted some past mistakes.
"I made some comments in interviews about minimizing the effect of the Holocaust that were absolutely wrong. And I am not going to sit here and defend them here," Carl told the panel.
Sen. Curtis slammed Carl for his past comments.
"After reviewing his record and participating in today's hearing, I do not believe that Jeremy Carl is the right person to represent our nation's best interests in international forums, and I find his anti-Israel views and insensitive remarks about the Jewish people unbecoming of the position for which he has been nominated," Sen. Curtis said in a statement on Thursday.
A White House official told ABC News on Friday that Carl is still Trump's nominee.
Other Democratic senators came down on Carl over his reported antisemitic comments.
Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey pressed Carl on what he meant when he said he believed in the "Great Replacement theory" -- a white nationalist conspiracy theory marked by anti-immigrant and antisemitic beliefs about non-white immigrants replacing white Americans. It has been used some to justify racist attacks.
"I think the Democratic Party, through its immigration policy, shows signs of that," Carl replied.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut called Carl a "legit white nationalist" after the hearing in a post on social media that shows an exchange between the two.
Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is Jewish, slammed Carl over his past statements.
"No person who thinks Jews should get over the Holocaust and spreads pernicious Jewish stereotypes can claim to have the character or judgment necessary to serve as a diplomat for this country. Jeremy Carl's nomination should go no further after this week," Schumer said in a statement.
ABC News' Hannah Demissie and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
