Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, will oppose one of President Donald Trump’s nominees for a high-ranking position within the State Department as the candidate has come under scrutiny for making a number of comments deemed racist and antisemitic.
Curtis will vote against confirming Jeremy Carl when he is considered by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Deseret News has learned, likely putting his nomination in peril if all Democrats on the panel unanimously oppose. Carl has been tapped by Trump to be his assistant secretary of state for International Organizations, which would put him in charge of managing U.S. relations with the United Nations and other international organizations.
“After reviewing his record and participating in today’s hearing, I’m not convinced 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 Jews unbecoming of the position for which he has been nominated,” Curtis told the Deseret News, which was the first to report on the Utah senator’s position.
Curtis made his decision after grilling Carl in a high-profile nomination hearing on Thursday, during which the Utah senator pressed him on past comments in which Carl suggested the U.S. “spends too much time” on Israel.
Curtis specifically pointed to a podcast interview in which Carl suggested Jewish people focus too much on the Holocaust and failed to push back against the host’s suggestions that the ethnic group have claimed “special victim status” because of it.
“Now, that was the host. But this was your response: ‘Right, right. Yeah. No, I mean, I think that’s true,’” Curtis said. “So, given that, when asked by other diplomats who do come with these agendas that you referred to in your remarks, how do you push back on that when you didn’t push back on that moderator?”
“Senator, first of all, thank you for the question. And I would have to review the podcast in question that you mentioned,” Carl responded. “ do a lot of podcasts that I’m not familiar with…”
“I gave you your exact words,” Curtis interjected.
“I’m sure that they’re accurate,” Carl responded. ‘I’m sure that they’re accurate.”
“So then trust me,” Curtis said, “those diplomats also know your exact words.”
Carl has similarly been criticized by Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who have said they would oppose his nomination based on other comments he has made on social media that they deemed racist or antisemitic. Carl has since deleted nearly 5,000 social media posts since before his nomination, according to CNN.
With Curtis’ opposition, Carl’s nomination will likely fail due to margins in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The Deseret News contacted the White House for comment.