Image: keystone
analysis
Radical anti-Semites are very popular among young Republicans.
July 3, 2026, 5:36 p.mJuly 3, 2026, 5:36 p.m
The successes of the democratic socialists in the primary elections have given massive impetus to the thesis of alleged left-wing anti-Semitism. For Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York, criticism of the actions of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon is just a pretext to generally question the right to exist of a Jewish state, according to those who support this thesis. In other words, it was poorly disguised hatred of Jews.
Hatred of Jews is indeed on the rise in the US, but on the opposite side of the political spectrum, among the young men of the Grand Old Party. Many followers of Charlie Kirk, the charismatic star of the young conservatives and founder of the organization Turning Point, believe in a conspiracy theory that says Israel was behind his assassination because Kirk would never have agreed that the United States would launch a war against Iran.
He was very popular with young men: Charlie Kirk.Image: keystone
This war is extremely unpopular with young Republicans and is even a stab in the back of the MAGA movement. Trump repeatedly promised during his election campaign that he would never start another war in the Middle East. That’s why not even half of them agree with the way the president is managing this war.
According to “The Atlantic” magazine, 57 percent of Republicans between the ages of 18 and 29 want the USA to generally withdraw from foreign countries. Thanks to Charlie Kirk and Turning Point, many of these young men voted for Trump. Now they are turning away from him, but not towards the Democrats, no, they are looking for harder material.
That’s not surprising. The elderly Trump is increasingly losing sight of the concerns of his voters. His assurances of standing up for the concerns of the little man and making America great again are sounding increasingly hollow. It becomes too obvious that his primary concern is to enrich himself and make the billionaires happy.
Trump can now boast that he is in the league of the most corrupt heads of state in recent history, in the league of Vladimir Putin, Silvio Berlusconi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Viktor Orban, but also of developing country dictators such as Sani Abacha in Nigeria, who died in 1998, or Mobutu Sese Seko in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The president and his flashy jet.Image: keystone
The United States was once, in the words of Ronald Reagan, the “shining city on the hill,” a role model for the rest of the world. “The behavior of the USA has been very influential in shaping international norms,” says Liz David-Barrett, the corruption expert at the University of Sussex, in the New York Times. Today they are becoming an excuse for corrupt behavior. “Why should we stick to the rules when the greatest power in the world doesn’t?” is how David-Barrett describes the new international political etiquette.
Trump’s corruption and ostentation also disgust his young voters. That’s why they turn to new leaders – and find them in the right-wing extremist scene, with personalities like Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens. Fuentes in particular is enjoying growing popularity among Generation Z. The 27-year-old influencer is an incel – which means he has a serious problem with women – and an avowed Hitler fan.
Fuentes has made a name for himself as a white nationalist. The fact that he was allowed to have lunch with Trump along with Kanye West massively increased his popularity, and that he was allowed to express his open admiration for Hitler and the Nazis at Carlson made him the spokesman for the Groypers. That’s what they call young men in the GOP who are no longer afraid to commit to fascism.
Fuentes’ example is setting a precedent. In Florida, a certain James Fishback is running to succeed Governor Ron DeSantis. He has to resign because his second term of office has expired. Although Fishback will not be elected, he has managed to gather a significant number of followers behind him on social media in a short space of time.
Incel and Hitler fan Nick Fuentes.Image: tiktok
His program comes from an ideological chamber of horrors, from a mixture of nationalist and racist ideas. In addition, Fishback is also campaigning for Florida to sell $385 million in Israeli government bonds and give the money to young married couples. He also wants to have the porn site OnlyFans banned.
Just two percent of the American population are Jewish. There is no rational reason for anti-Semitism. Nevertheless, according to “Atlantic,” 27 percent of 18 to 22-year-olds now agree with the statement: “Jews have too much power in the USA.” Their parents and grandparents, on the other hand, see it differently, because the Holocaust is still omnipresent in the minds of the Boomer generation. For members of Generation Z, the industrial extermination of the Jews is at best a hazy memory.
In the climate of a president who clearly only cares about his personal enrichment and his place in history and under whom corruption is omnipresent, the old anti-Semitic clichés are springing up again like mushrooms after a warm rain.