LAS VEGAS — Until last week, the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership summit was expected to be a triumphant gathering to celebrate President Donald Trump’s accomplishments in the Middle East, chief among them his administration’s recently brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

That all changed after Tucker Carlson hosted the neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes on his podcast for a sympathetic interview, provoking fierce backlash. By the time that Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, came to Carlson’s defense on Thursday, the RJC recognized its conference would require a thematic update to more forcefully emphasize the urgency of confronting rising antisemitism — and its enablers — within the GOP.

“If there was ever a time for the RJC, this is our time,” Norm Coleman, the organization’s national chairman, said in opening remarks on Friday. “We have been called to this moment to fight the scourge of antisemitism.”

But even as multiple speakers at the three-day summit held at the Venetian Resort — including congressional leaders, conservative activists and media personalities — alluded to antisemitism in their ranks, many talked in broad strokes, didn’t mention Carlson by name or downplayed the issue as confined to the fringes, despite Carlson and Fuentes each commanding a significant number of dedicated followers on the far right.

The speakers also argued that anti-Jewish hatred had become an endemic problem for Democrats — especially in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks. And in a preview of GOP messaging ahead of the midterms next year, many took aim at Zohran Mamdani, the far-left Democratic nominee for New York City mayor and fierce critic of Israel favored to win the election on Tuesday.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who is now running for governor of Florida, relied on euphemism to refer to right-wing antisemitism, declaring that the GOP would “not stand idly by” as “some in other parts of politics try to demonize Jewish Americans” and “try to weaken or destroy the relationship between the United States of America and the nation of Israel.”

“I will always call out and confront antisemitism wherever it is and whoever spreads it,” Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), the House Republican conference chair, said on Saturday, but shared no examples of such prejudice in her own party.

Some, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Dave McCormick (R-PA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), more forcefully addressed growing antisemitism on their side of the aisle. 

In an interview with Jewish Insider shortly before he took the stage on Friday, Graham described Carlson’s interview with Fuentes as a “wake-up call” for the Republican Party. “How many times does he have to play footsie with this antisemitic view of the Jewish people and Israel until you figure out that’s what he believes?” Graham said of the former Fox News host. 

But in his speech later, the South Carolina senator adopted a more sanguine attitude, speaking more like a stand-up comedian as he sought to lighten the mood. “I just want to make it really clear: I’m in the ‘Hitler sucks’ wing of the Republican Party,” he said to applause. “What is this Hitler shit?”

“I feel good about the Republican Party,” he added, saying the GOP “has figured it out when it comes to Israel.”

Cruz also criticized Republicans who refuse to disavow right-wing antisemites in the conservative coalition, though he ultimately didn’t mention any of the offending individuals by name in his RJC speech.

McCormick, in his fireside chat with conservative author Douglas Murray, directly confronted the lack of right-wing voices challenging virulent antisemitism. “This very week, you had an avowed antisemite, Fuentes, given a platform. This is a guy that says Hitler is cool, says Jews should be terminated…and those views went unchallenged,” McCormick said. 

In his own speech at the summit, McCormick said: “Let’s face it, antisemitism is running wild on the progressive left and the leaders of the Democratic Party are not confronting it with their new star Mamdani,” McCormick said. “But I’m also sad to say we see that ugliness on the right too, and we must confront it. Jews can’t be slandered, antisemites can’t be given platforms.”

Their comments sidestepped a more deeply rooted challenge for mainstream Republicans following recent controversies in which young party leaders were caught sharing pro-Nazi messages in leaked group chats, and Paul Ingrassia, the controversial Trump ally, withdrew his nomination to lead the Office of Special Counsel after text messages were unearthed where he allegedly made antisemitic and racist remarks. 

Vice President JD Vance also faced criticism from Jewish Republicans last week over his recent appearance at a conservative campus event, where he chose not to confront some students who asked questions that invoked antisemitic tropes. While some attendees at the RJC summit told JI that they had been troubled by Vance’s performance, it was not a topic of discussion on the main stage.

Taking the floor on Saturday, however, Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL), a freshman congressman from Florida who is one of four Jewish Republicans in the House, criticized those who focus only on left-wing antisemitism or just broadly talk about anti-Jewish prejudice on the right.

“It’s easy to talk about antisemitism on the left,” Fine said in his remarks. “I want to talk about the dark force rising on our side. Multiple speakers have talked about the rise of antisemitism on the right. But it is not enough to speak in platitudes or generalities about the fight. We must call evil by its name.”

He called Carlson “the most dangerous antisemite in America” and said he did not belong in Trump’s movement — a message that was amplified by a line of student attendees who stood before him holding up posters declaring “Tucker is not MAGA.”

Fine also said that he was canceling a scheduled event with the Heritage Foundation, adding that the group had “no future” in his office. “I will be calling on all of my colleagues on the Republican side to do the same,” he confirmed.

Matt Brooks, the RJC’s CEO, told JI last week that his group would be reassessing its relationship with Heritage, noting that he was “disgusted” by Roberts’ decision to stand with Carlson. The RJC has not yet further clarified how it plans to move forward with regard to Heritage.

As the summit neared its conclusion on Saturday, one RJC member, Jon Tucker of Chicago, voiced optimism that Trump, set to deliver a prerecorded message later that evening, would choose to speak out against what he termed the “ultra-right wing, isolationist” and “anti-Christian Zionist” voices in the Republican Party.

“I would hope the president comes out and has something to say about it, just like Ronald Reagan did back in the ’80s when he, famously, kicked the right wing out of the Republican Party,” he told JI, expressing concern that — in the absence of direct condemnation from the top — “we could lose” the GOP to “radicals.”

When he finally appeared on screen, Trump made no mention of antisemitism’s ascendance within the GOP, instead touting his administration’s efforts to target universities for their alleged failure to address antisemitism while listing his achievements in the Middle East, including the ceasefire deal.

He also credited the RJC with helping him to perform particularly well among Jewish voters in 2024, even as he reiterated his complaint that he should have received more support in light of his pro-Israel policies.

“I can’t imagine we didn’t do better than that after all I’ve done for the Jewish vote, I must be honest with you,” Trump said. “But that’s OK.”

This story was updated on Monday to reflect Sen. Dave McCormick’s comments regarding Nick Fuentes.