One Republican defection could sink President Donald Trump’s State Department nominee as the vote nears.
Republican Utah Sen. John Curtis announced Thursday he will not support Jeremy Carl, Trump’s pick for assistant secretary of state for international organizations, following a heated Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing. (RELATED: Trump Nominee Goes On Offense After Chuck Schumer Accuses Him Of ‘White Supremacy’)
“I do not believe that Jeremy Carl is the right person to represent our nation’s best interests in international forums,” Curtis said, citing “anti-Israel views and insensitive remarks about the Jewish people” as disqualifying.
Sen. John Curtis grills Trump State Dept nominee Jeremy Carl on his criticisms of Israel: “You said the US spends too much time and energy on Israel—often to the detriment of our own national interests.”
(Curtis announced after this that he’s going to sink Carl’s nomination due… pic.twitter.com/BmtDSqtqw4
— Chris Menahan 🇺🇸 (@infolibnews) February 13, 2026
Curtis’s defection could doom the nomination. If every Democrat on the committee votes against Carl, he falls short of the votes needed to advance — and Democratic opposition is assured. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has voiced opposition, and Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy called Carl a “legit white nationalist” on X after the hearing.
Murphy pressed Carl on prior statements referencing “anti-White discrimination” and the “erasure of white culture.” Carl did not define “white culture,” but said “mass immigration” erases “common American culture” and “weakens us.”
“Trump nominated a legit white nationalist to a top post at the State Department,” Murphy wrote. “I asked him some basic questions about his belief in the ‘erasure of white culture.’ Watch this embarrassing, fumbling answer.”
Trump nominated a legit white nationalist to a top post at the State Department. I asked him some basic questions about his belief in the “erasure of white culture”. Watch this embarrassing, fumbling answer. Like he has never before been asked to explain his views. pic.twitter.com/QZuwykbVfQ
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 12, 2026
In September, a CNN KFILE report found Carl had deleted thousands of social media posts, including commentary on race and statements that “peaceful coexistence” with Democrats is impossible. He also wrote multiple times about the “Great Replacement,” a framework describing mass immigration as a deliberate policy to displace white populations.
At Thursday’s hearing, Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the committee’s ranking member, pressed Carl on comments from a 2024 podcast in which he reportedly said “Jews have often loved to play the victim” and that “the Holocaust dominates so much of modern Jewish history.”
Shaheen noted Carl had “tweeted more than 850 times, appeared on five podcasts and repeated this language” since his nomination.
“This is a pattern,” she said. “It’s hard to understand how we can trust you if you can’t even restrain yourself during the period in which you’ve been nominated.”
Carl acknowledged the “importance of restraint” but said he had to balance that with his current advocacy work.
“I can’t just totally put away my day job,” he said.
Under questioning from Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, Carl expressed regret for “minimizing the effect of the Holocaust,” adding, “I’m not going to sit here and defend” those remarks. Asked about his statements on race, Carl said he was “echoing” Trump in arguing that “unity rather than diversity is a strength.”
If confirmed, Carl would lead the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, directing U.S. policy at the United Nations and other multilateral institutions and overseeing more than 100 diplomats stationed abroad. He served as a deputy assistant secretary at the Interior Department during Trump’s first term and is currently a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute.
Curtis did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.
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