Tucker Carlson’s Charlie Kirk Memorial Speech About Jesus’ Crucifixion Blasted as Antisemitic: ‘Message Received’

“Antisemitic innuendo and cackling like a chicken are never appropriate,” former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman writes

Tucker Carlson speaks during the memorial service for political activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium on September 21, 2025 in Glendale, Arizona. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Tucker Carlson speaks during the memorial service for political activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium on September 21, 2025 in Glendale, Arizona. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Former Fox News host and right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson has come under fire for the speech he gave Sunday at the memorial service for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, with some online critics labeling his comments as antisemitic.

During his speech, Carlson remarked that Kirk was a Christian evangelist and that Kirk’s assassination reminded him of his “favorite story ever.” Carlson went on to recount the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, telling those in attendance, “It’s about 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, and Jesus shows up and he starts talking about the people in power, and he starts doing the worst thing that you can do, which is telling the truth about people, and they hate it and they just go bonkers.”

“I can just sort of picture the scene in a lamplit room with a bunch of guys sitting around and eating hummus, thinking about what do we do about this guy telling the truth about us,” Carlson continued. “We must make him stop talking. And there’s always one guy with the bright idea, and I can hear him say, ‘I’ve got an idea, why don’t we just kill him? That’ll shut him up. That’ll fix the problem.’ It doesn’t work that way.”

At one point, Carlson openly laughed during his speech. Afterward, David Friedman, who served as President Trump’s Ambassador to Israel during his first presidential term, condemned Carlson’s remarks. “Antisemitic innuendo and cackling like a chicken are never appropriate, but even less so at a memorial service for a great man,” Friedman wrote on X.

“The very fact that so many people who watched or participated in Charlie Kirk’s memorial are debating the appropriateness of [Carlson’s] speech, tells you he gave the wrong speech,” Friedman added in a later tweet. “The event was not about him!”

In the wake of Kirk’s murder, Carlson spoke at length about the negative opinion Kirk allegedly had about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which he purportedly shared behind the scenes with Carlson.

Many have, consequently, accused Carlson online of using his speech at Kirk’s memorial service to further a conspiracy theory linking Israeli Jews to Kirk’s murder. “It is very hard to see Tucker Carlson’s remarks regarding who killed Charlie any other way,” journalist Yashar Ali wrote on X Sunday afternoon. “Especially in light of his rhetoric in the last two years and the types of guests he has booked and interviewed uncritically.”

You can find more reactions to Carlson’s speech, below.

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Alex Welch

Alex is an Audience Writer at TheWrap, based in Los Angeles. He has been covering the entertainment industry since 2013. Before joining TheWrap in 2025, he worked as a critic and reporter for A.frame, Digital Trends, Inverse, IGN, Looper, and multiple other outlets. A lifelong cinephile, he dreams of one day being invited to the…

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