This week, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on which Utah Sen. John Curtis sits, will hold a nomination hearing to confirm Jeremy Carl for a senior-level job in the State Department that most Americans have never heard of: assistant secretary of state for international organizations. We strongly oppose this nomination because Mr. Carl is unfit and unqualified for this position.
The Office of International Organizations is charged with setting and implementing U.S. policy at the United Nations and dozens of international organizations on matters as varied as human rights, global health, food security, refugees and climate. The person in this role also provides direction to major U.S. diplomatic missions around the world. Mr. Carl, President Trump’s pick for the job, is a man whose written and spoken words embrace antisemitic and racist views, and who has precious little experience with the issues this position covers.
As a former member of the Utah Legislature and as a rabbi, respectively, we cannot stay silent. It is our obligation as political and religious leaders to ensure that all people are treated with respect, dignity and compassion. Mr. Carl’s bigoted views directly contradict these values. No matter our individual faith, we must all stand against empowering anyone who publicly cultivates such disturbing beliefs. Because we know that Sen. Curtis rejects such bigotry, we call on the senator and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to vote against Carl’s nomination.
Mr. Carl champions the “Great Replacement” theory, a baseless claim that Jews and other so-called “elites” are plotting to replace white Americans with immigrants and non-white citizens. He has also publicly expressed his belief that a “cultural genocide” against white people is taking place in the U.S. These are not harmless ideas. They are dangerous conspiracy theories and hate speech that have been linked repeatedly to violence, including the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue massacre.
Though Carl deleted thousands of his tweets right before he was nominated, many of his abhorrent ideas are still on display. In a 2024 podcast, Carl declared that Jews have channeled their “misguided” religious theology into “political radicalism of all sorts” and “some of the worst political movements” of the 20th and 21st centuries. He also opined that Jews focus too much on the Holocaust and love to play the victim, adding that he finds it “distasteful” that Jews continue to dwell on their trauma. He has described Jewish people as clannish, excessively powerful, genetically different and suspiciously unlike the communities “regular” Americans live in. These are the same toxic tropes that have been used for centuries to dehumanize Jews and justify violence.
Mr. Carl is a dangerous choice. Someone with such a questionable character should not be considered to oversee U.S. policy at multilateral organizations, including the United Nations. The UN is where the world adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 — affirming the dignity and equality of every person.
It would be unconscionable to put someone whose beliefs so defy morality and American ideals in a position to guide the U.S. on the international stage. Such clear, documented hatred demands a firm repudiation by Sen. Curtis and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Hate has no place in U.S. diplomacy and the highest echelons of the U.S. government.