I walked off a live recording of Her Take podcast last week. I won’t be returning.
In the days since, my former co-hosts have perpetuated grotesque conspiracy theories involving Israel, Jews, and the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
It’s a textbook case of how antisemitic conspiracies get laundered into mainstream discourse under the guise of ‘just raising questions.’
The facts are clear. Tyler Robinson is detained for the alleged murder of Charlie Kirk. He is a troubled young individual steeped in fringe online culture and radical progressivism.
Yet, instead of confronting the unsettling reality of a lone, radicalized perpetrator, some pundits swiftly shifted to a darker story: blaming Jews and Israel.
Why? Because it resonates. Because dabbling in antisemitism — even under the guise of ‘we’re just exploring what’s out there’ — attracts clicks, applause, and an online validation chorus.
Indeed, Charlie had concerns about Israel’s war in Gaza. He expressed frustration to Megyn Kelly and others over the criticism he received for hosting critics of Israel, like Tucker Carlson, at Turning Point USA events. His closest friend and TPUSA co-founder, Andrew Kolvet, explained that Charlie felt he had earned the right — as a longtime supporter of the Jewish people — to declare, ‘It’s time to end the war. It’s time to stop the killing.’ Even Prime Minister Netanyahu acknowledged last week that Charlie had disagreements with him regarding the war.
Charlie was a complex individual with intricate views. But distorting his words into a tool to attack Israel — alleging he was coerced, manipulated, or even killed by Jewish people — is contrary to truth-telling. It’s opportunism at the expense of a person who can no longer speak for himself.
I walked off a live recording of Her Take podcast last week. I won’t be returning
In the days since, my former co-hosts have continued to traffic in grotesque conspiracy theories involving Israel, Jews and Charlie Kirk’s assassination
Almost as grotesque as blaming Israel for Charlie’s murder is the way some pundits have twisted his legacy to validate their narratives.
The conspiracy at the heart of this story — pushed most aggressively by Max Blumenthal and The Grayzone — claims that wealthy Jewish donors tried to intimidate Kirk into silence.
This slander collapses instantly under scrutiny.
Kolvet has stated that TPUSA has very few Jewish donors at all. Billionaire Bill Ackman, who was singled out as the supposed organizer of an intimidation campaign, has released warm, cordial text exchanges with Charlie and categorically denied the story.
And the source itself, The Grayzone, has a long record of scandal: watchdogs have documented its reliance on anonymous sourcing, its publication of Kremlin, Beijing, and Tehran talking points, and an editor’s acceptance of funding from Iran’s state broadcaster. Blumenthal has also appeared repeatedly on Russian state television, amplifying Moscow’s line.
These are not investigative journalists. They are propagandists masquerading as reporters — spreading disinformation that disintegrates under the weight of facts.
Why do some indulge this? Because the rewards are instant. Each inflammatory soundbite earns followers. Each indulgence in conspiratorial rhetoric signals tribal loyalty. And each ‘I don’t believe this, but…’ opens the door wider for audiences already primed to embrace scapegoats.
One of my former colleagues, Lindy Li, confided privately to me before the podcast last week, she was ‘shocked’ by the escalating rhetoric but also ‘marveled’ at the massive follower growth it produced. That’s the tell. This isn’t about thoughtful critique of Middle East policy. It’s about what gets clicks and affirmation.
And the cost is real. In the United States, antisemitic incidents have spiked since October 7. Synagogues, schools, and Jewish-owned businesses have been attacked. Across Europe, hate crimes against Jews have risen to levels not seen in decades.
This is how it happens: reckless rhetoric online turns into harassment, violence, and hate crimes in real life.
Almost as grotesque as blaming Israel for Charlie’s murder is the way some pundits have twisted his legacy to validate their narratives
What makes this even more alarming is that some of the same voices pushing the ‘Israel killed Charlie’ theory have been recycling another antisemitic smear: that Jews or Israel were behind the September 11 attacks.
This claim has been thoroughly debunked — by the 9/11 Commission Report, FBI investigations, DOJ Inspector General reports, Popular Mechanics, the Council on Foreign Relations, and even Encyclopaedia Britannica. Yet, like all effective disinformation, it keeps resurfacing because it’s lurid and because it scratches an ancient itch for scapegoats.
When my former co-host Ana Kasparian mused aloud in August that Israel might have been behind 9/11, it wasn’t edgy or brave. It was recycling a smear with a long, bloody history — a history that has fueled pogroms, hate crimes, and now a global surge in antisemitism.
Spreading baseless conspiracy theories for clicks is not truth-telling. It is not empathy for the Palestinian people. It is opportunism at the cost of fueling hate. It hardens public opinion through misinformation and fuels the very hostility that makes constructive dialogue impossible.
What begins as chasing applause quickly metastasizes into a world where outrage replaces fact and polarization replaces truth.
I will not be complicit.
