‘Now the Mask is Fully Off’: ADL Chief Warns Twitter Against Giving a ‘Huge Megaphone’ to ‘Obvious Antisemite’ Tucker Carlson

Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, denounced fired Fox News host turned Twitter conspiracy theorist Tucker Carlson on Thursday as an “obvious antisemite” and warned Elon Musk against giving him a “huge megaphone.”

“For years @TuckerCarlson slyly wove anti-Jewish conspiracies into his show on @FoxNews — attacking George Soros, slandering Paul Singer, and making other unfounded claims. Now the mask is fully off,” Greenblatt wrote, referring to the contents of the first episode of Tucker on Twitter, which dropped on Tuesday night.

“He opened his new “show” on @Twitter by describing Zelensky as “sweaty and rat-like” and “a persecutor of Christians.” Complete lie. Even if you disagree with US foreign policy, invoking antisemitic imagery and tropes is a perverse and prejudicial way to build a case,” Greenblatt continued, adding:

Tucker scared major advertisers off FOX Primetime for years. He traded in conspiracies. He appealed to cranks. Now this — at a time when #antisemitism is surging in America and around the world.

If @lindayacc wants to attract Fortune 500 advertisers and @elonmusk wants to create a genuine public square, it might be wise not to give this obvious antisemite such a huge megaphone. Let Tucker and his ilk push their hate somewhere else.

Greenblatt mentioned Linda Yaccarino, the ex-NBCUniversal advertising executive who took over as Twitter’s CEO this week. Musk has tapped Yaccarino to try and turn the company’s revenue stream around, which reportedly saw a 59% drop in ad revenue in April compared to the previous year.

Carlson lost most of his big-name sponsors after a 2018 controversy in which he accused immigrants of making the U.S. “dirtier” and he kept them away by promoting race-based conspiracy theories like the “great replacement theory.”

The “great replacement theory,” which has been linked to mass shootings like in Buffalo and El Paso, “states that nonwhite individuals are being brought into the United States and other Western countries to ‘replace’ white voters to achieve a political agenda,” according to NPR.

Greenblatt’s condemnation of Carlson, follows a bevy of heavy criticism following his first Twitter episode as the former Fox host not only compared the first Jewish president of Ukraine to a rodent, but also defended Russia against allegations their invading forces blew up a large dam in Ukraine.

Fox News also sent Carlson a letter Wednesday accusing him of breach of contract and vowing legal action should he continue to violate the noncompete agreement in his contract. Carlson’s contract with Fox is currently through January of 2025 and the network reportedly offered him $25 million to stay in his contract and remain silent after he was fired, Carlson rejected that offer.