Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, defended Tucker Carlson’s hosting of neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes at the Israel Hayom summit on Tuesday.

Dhillon took part in a conversation at the gathering, which took place in Manhattan, with the outlet’s senior diplomatic correspondent, Ariel Kahana, about the Trump administration’s efforts to combat domestic antisemitism. 

Asked about Carlson’s interview with Fuentes and what tools the U.S. had to prevent the spread of the antisemitic ideas from the far right, Dhillon distanced herself from Fuentes while calling Carlson a “friend.” She noted the importance of protecting free speech, though she did not condemn Carlson for his recent history of inviting antisemites and Holocaust deniers on his podcast. 

“What we say in First Amendment world is: The antidote to speech that you don’t like is more speech. It isn’t shutting down speech,” Dhillon said. “So, I don’t agree with a single word that Nick Fuentes says or has to say, and the decision of whether or not to platform that person is one for my friend and former client, Tucker Carlson.” 

“But we have a free country, still,” she continued. “Nothing is guaranteed, it is always one generation away from being lost. Thanks to Elon Musk acquiring Twitter, we have a free platform in America on X.” A study by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs earlier this year found that antisemitic content is rampant on X, more so than other social media sites.

Despite not pushing back on Carlson’s antisemitic embrace, Dhillon said Americans have an obligation to counter antisemitic and other hateful ideas through dialogue.

“The beauty of our country is that you can drown out negative views and viewpoints by simply speaking more,” she said, later adding: “It devolves on each of us as citizens to drown out those voices of hatred with our own voices, and have courage and stand up. The government can only do so much, and we are doing that.”

Earlier in the conversation, Dhillon lambasted New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani as an “antisemitic demagogue” who is incapable of changing his views. 

“Look, the future mayor of New York is an antisemitic demagogue. That’s a fact,” Dhillon said. “There’s no persuading that kind of person, in a way. We will be responding with law enforcement to the extent that the city of New York fails to protect Jews in this city, and we see hate crimes, we see attacks or blockages surrounding houses of worship in this city.”

“The federal authorities, including the Department of Justice, FBI and others, are already actively investigating attacks in New York, New Jersey and elsewhere,” she continued. “Everywhere we find it in this country, we will step up and protect Jews.”