Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) issued a stark warning during an exclusive interview with David Brody of CBN News, arguing that antisemitism is not only rising on the political left but is increasingly surfacing in parts of the conservative movement online.
During the interview, Cruz called out Vice President JD Vance for his alleged silence on Carlson’s rhetoric, suggesting that silence is complicity.
He also suggested that the popular phrase “Christ Is King” is being weaponized as a code word for Jew-hatred.
Senator Cruz told Brody that he believes the GOP is at a crossroads similar to the one described by Ronald Reagan in 1964.
He specifically pointed to Tucker Carlson as the leader of what he calls a “venomous ideology” that is infiltrating the party.
When asked by Brody if Vice President JD Vance, a close friend of Carlson, should speak out against the former Fox News host, Cruz was blunt:
David Brody:
Let me ask you a bit of an uncomfortable question: J.D. Vance is good friends with Tucker Carlson. I get the friendship part of it, but he has not talked about this. Do you think he should?Ted Cruz:
Look, everyone’s going to have to decide where they stand. I believe Ronald Reagan, in 1964, gave a very famous speech, “A Time for Choosing,” and I think this is a time for choosing.David Brody:
Is silence complicity?Ted Cruz:
I will say, a decade ago, when antisemitism began rising on the left, the Democrat leadership did nothing. They looked the other way, and it’s consumed their party. I mean, there is a very real pro-Hamas contingent in the Democrat Party.In the last year and a half, I have seen more antisemitism on the right than at any point in my life. And it is dangerous, and it risks consuming our party. I don’t want us to make the same mistake Democrat leaders made a decade ago—of just looking the other way and being silent.
And I will say, listen, it has a very direct—Tucker Carlson is the most vocal proponent of it, but there are a host of influencers online who have very loud voices. And the danger is that they’re being heard, especially by young people—by teenagers and 20-somethings. And you are seeing views change.
And I will tell you, the target of this operation is you and me. It is evangelical Christians. Tucker Carlson has said there is nobody he hates more on planet Earth than Christian Zionists. And he named specifically me and my colleagues.
You know, I think it’s unfortunate that I am the person he says he hates most on Earth.
Cruz also accused Carlson and others of promoting what he described as a deeply troubling theological claim known as replacement theology, the idea that the Christian Church has replaced Israel as God’s chosen people.
Ted Cruz:
This is something Tucker and others are pushing, and this is—look—I think this is a heresy. It is a notion that the promises in the Bible that God makes to Israel are no longer valid; that the Jews are no longer God’s chosen people. Instead, replacement theology argues that the Christian church has replaced Israel and the Jews as God’s chosen people, and that all of the promises in the Old Testament are now invalid.Brody:
So God breaks his promises, apparently?Ted Cruz:
Yeah. And that—I think that is absolutely wrong. If God breaks his promises to the people of Israel, that suggests that God could break his promises to Christians as well. And I don’t believe God breaks his promises.
WATCH:
Ted Cruz: “Jews are God’s Chosen People. Not Christians — saying anything else is a heresy”
Sorry Ted..
Abraham < Isaac < Jacob < Christ < All who believe the promise
The Only Chosen People are those who choose Jesus. PERIOD.https://t.co/AXk6VKAVBe https://t.co/osmsFpiClz pic.twitter.com/hF5HDOPViX
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) March 13, 2026
Perhaps the most controversial part of the interview involved Cruz’s assessment of how Christian rhetoric is being used online. While “Christ Is King” is a foundational theological statement for billions of Christians, Cruz claims it has been hijacked by bad actors to target Jewish people.
Sen. Cruz:
Just this last Sunday, a week ago, we were talking about exactly what you just asked. And I said, I’m really troubled by how the phrase “Christ is King” is being used.Look, I agree with the statement “Christ is King,” although it is being used online in a way that is meant to say, “Screw you, Jew.” It is being used in a context very directly to say, “I hate Jews.” And that’s almost an online code word: “Christ is King” is “I hate the Jews.”
Brody:
Is that your view? Why do you say that?Sen. Cruz:
Because you see the people who are saying it, and they’re saying it in that context. They’re saying Jews are horrible—like they’re attacking Jews—and they end with “Christ is King” to make it sound like somehow there’s a biblical basis for attacking Jews.
Cruz argued that “influencers” are using the phrase to provide a “biblical basis” for attacking the Jewish people, a move he described as dangerous for the Republican Party and the country.
WATCH:
Editor’s Note: The Gateway Pundit has not independently observed the phrase “Christ is King” being used as an antisemitic code word in mainstream conservative or Christian discourse. For millions of Christians around the world, the phrase is a traditional declaration of faith affirming the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. At the same time, any use of religious language to promote hatred toward any group, including Jews, is wrong and should be condemned.
The post Ted Cruz Suggests “Christ Is King” is Antisemitic and is Being Used Online as Code for “I Hate the Jews” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.