Podcast Summary: "Inside Call me Back SNEAK PEEK: Between Mamdani and Tucker, Are Jews Getting Squeezed?"

Podcast: Call Me Back – with Dan Senor
Guest: Jonah Goldberg (Editor in Chief, The Dispatch)
Date: November 8, 2025
Focus: The convergence of antisemitism from the far left and right in American politics, and its impact on the Jewish community.

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the challenges facing American Jews and Israel supporters, especially in the wake of Zoran Mamdani's mayoral victory in New York City—a self-identified anti-Zionist—while far-right figures like Tucker Carlson platform virulent antisemites. The guest, conservative commentator Jonah Goldberg, examines the ideological origins, political implications, and the sense that Jews are being "squeezed" by extremes across the political spectrum.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Erosion of Classical Liberalism and the Rise of Illiberalism

• Horseshoe Theory in Action: Goldberg begins by emphasizing the similarities between the illiberal far left and far right, referencing the Bill of Rights as a "classical liberal document" that both extremes disregard.
  • Quote: “Once you reject that and… embrace illiberalism, then the differences between the far right and the far left kind of disappear… it’s really just two different teams of Illiberals.” (00:09, Jonah Goldberg)

2. Current Events and Jewish Vulnerability

• Hostage Crisis and Internal Scandals: The show sets a somber current affairs tone: deceased Israeli hostages returned, an Israeli military legal scandal, ongoing Gaza and Lebanon warfare, and Turkish mediation with Hamas.
  • Timestamps 01:15–03:30: Contextual updates from Dan Senor on ongoing Israeli crises.
• Antisemitism from the Left: Zoran Mamdani's ascent as NYC mayor is seen as a symbolic normalization of anti-Zionism and, for many, antisemitism itself.

3. Zoran Mamdani’s Election: What Does It Mean?

• Personal Perspective:
  • Goldberg, a New York native, reflects on the city’s new leadership and his emotional and cultural connection to its Jewish heritage.
• Dangerous Rhetoric, Mainstreamed:
  • Quote: “Rhetoric is the art of figuring out what men believe they ought to believe… And the fact that you’ve got a guy who has said every time the NYPD puts its boot on your neck, it was laced by the IDF… It’s not great.” (09:38, Jonah Goldberg)
• Cultural vs Functional Politics:
  • Mamdani’s victory is viewed more as “transgressive avatar” politics—the appeal of identity over practical solutions.
• Degree of Danger:
  • While Goldberg acknowledges the cultural threat, he tempers alarmism: “I don’t think it’s open season on Jews in New York either… He’s going to have a rough time doing a lot of the things he says he’s going to do.” (12:59)
• Feature, Not Bug:
  • Mandami’s anti-Zionist stance is intrinsic, not a scandal or a slip, unlike other politicians who hide such views.
  • Quote: “The difference between bug and feature…[is] Mandami, his part of the package of who he is—a sort of trustafarian, campus, ‘globalize the intifada’ kind of guy.” (14:43, Jonah Goldberg)

4. The National Politics of the Left: Is Mamdani the Future?

• Not Representative of All Democrats:
  • Despite media focus, other Democrats in states like New Jersey and Virginia performed well running on moderate platforms, refusing to associate their campaigns with figures like AOC and Bernie Sanders.
  • Insight: Sensationalist, radical politicians receive disproportionate coverage over the “boring work” done by moderates. (19:06–21:43)
• Negative Polarization:
  • Both parties benefit, rhetorically and electorally, by having extremists as their opponents. “The more the people you hate, hate you, the better off you are.”

5. What Does Mamdani Actually Represent?

• Third-Worldism & Moral Politics:
  • Mandami is described as embodying not textbook socialism, but a “moral framework” of post-colonial, decolonial, global ‘uprising’ politics that prioritizes oppressive narratives.
  • Quote: “Wokeism was only the beginning. Showing that moral language can sustain ideology more effectively than doctrine or policy. Mamdani represents the next stage.” (22:32, quoting Zineb Rabua in Free Press)
• Interchangeability of Nationalism and Socialism:
  • Goldberg draws historical parallels, noting that movements like those inspired by Fanon or Castro blur “nationalist” and “socialist” distinctions.

6. Back to Basics: Political Constraints

• NYC Pragmatism:
  • However radical the rhetoric, practical politics in NYC are constrained: “If he doesn’t clean up the snow after a big snowstorm, that’s going to be a bigger political problem for him than all of this shtick.” (26:08, Jonah Goldberg)

7. Antisemitism on the Right: Tucker Carlson, Fuentes, and the Heritage Foundation

• Right-Wing Antisemitism Mainstreaming:

  • The show discusses the disturbing mainstreaming of antisemitic conspiracy theories by right-wing voices like Tucker Carlson, especially as he platforms neo-Nazis such as Nick Fuentes on his program.
  • Softball Extremism:
    • “He asked virtually no difficult questions and offered no intellectual pushback to Holocaust deniers…” (27:35, Jonah Goldberg)
  • Team Hitler:
    • Quote: “He tweeted he’s on Team Hitler. So like, that’s a good heuristic. It cuts through a lot of… what should we call him? He’s on Team Hitler.” (28:20, Jonah Goldberg)

• Antisemitic Tropes Explained:

  • Fuentes on Tucker: “[Jews] are… organized, that is putting the interests of themselves before the interests of their home country.” (28:35, Nick Fuentes)
  • Goldberg’s Response:
    • “It is a classic argument of anti-Semites to render invisible all the other examples that Jews fit and say, ‘aha, see Jews are all alone.’” (29:56)
    • Emphasizes that conspiracy theories “pander to the intellectual vanity of stupid and ignorant people.”

• Online and Campus Phenomenon vs. Violence:

  • Goldberg distinguishes between online/cultural antisemitism and where Jewish Americans feel physically unsafe: “They don’t feel that way… in Oklahoma or South Carolina or Texas, they feel it in New York City. And it’s not… Nick Fuentes acolytes… on a New York subway.” (34:02, Dan Senor)

8. The Political Grift & Climate

• Rise of Performance Outrage:
  • Both left and right hosts/activists monetize “dopamine hits“ of outrage.
  • Cites lack of real danger: "It's precisely because the Jews don't control the weather and they don't have lasers...that they feel utterly safe in saying this." (37:12, Jonah Goldberg)
• Media Performativeness:
  • The performative “bravery” of denouncing mainstream figures safely, rather than confronting real power or risk, is called out as “bravery on the cheap.”

9. Institutional Debate: The Heritage Foundation’s Dilemma

• Failure to Condemn:
  • The Heritage Foundation’s director refused to condemn Carlson’s platforming of Fuentes, citing free speech and ideological tent broadness.
• Echoes Campus Free Speech Wars:
  • Goldberg notes the hypocrisy: “His position is indistinguishable from Claudine Gay and the other university presidents…[who] fall back on...free speech...when someone says ‘gas the Jews.’” (40:53, Jonah Goldberg)
• Historical Parallel:
  • William F. Buckley in the 1960s enforced zero tolerance for antisemitism and “crazy people” on the right, a stance now contested.
  • Quote: “This is one of the reasons why I have such contempt for these people who talk about we need to have a big tent...but we must purge every last neocon...So there’s a lot of bad faith in all that.” (46:17, Jonah Goldberg)
• Proxy Battle:
  • Some see this as a proxy fight over the soul of the right, with figures like JD Vance protecting a new, more tolerant posture toward antisemites.

10. Are Jews Being Squeezed by Both Sides?

• This topic is set up for the extended members-only segment. The show closes with the promise of deeper analysis on historical precedents where left and right extremes united against Jews.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the shrinking Overton Window and rhetoric:
  • “There are certain rhetorical positions people take that should just make them outside the realm of acceptable public officials.” (12:12, Jonah Goldberg)
• On antisemitism’s new respectability:
  • “The edges, both the left and the right, seem to be coalescing around anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, blood libels and scapegoating.” (03:34, Dan Senor)
• On the campus left and postcolonialism:
  • “That kind of identity politics is what they teach in a lot of universities. And Mandami, where did he go? Bowdoin, right? …a rich kid who wants to…lean into the third world savior kind of status.” (24:26, Jonah Goldberg)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:09–01:15: Goldberg sets the thematic frame: classical liberalism vs. illiberal extremes.
• 01:15–03:30: Dan Senor sets the Israeli/Jewish crisis context & transition to U.S. politics.
• 06:27–09:11: Goldberg’s conservative credentials, personal history in NYC and the Jewish political world.
• 09:45–14:42: Discussion of Mamdani’s election, rhetoric, and normalization of anti-Zionist identity politics.
• 19:06–21:43: Is Mamdani emblematic of the Democratic Party or a media creation?
• 22:32–26:08: Analyzing what Mamdani’s left-wing ideology actually represents.
• 26:08–27:06: The limited practical powers of NYC mayors.
• 27:06–33:24: Antisemitism, Tucker Carlson, and the right’s mainstreaming of extreme voices.
• 34:02–36:38: Where do Jews feel physically unsafe today? (Mostly blue-state, urban contexts.)
• 39:52–42:32: The Heritage Foundation, the right’s internal turmoil, and the battle over boundaries.
• 46:17–End: Setting up the next segment on the horseshoe theory and the unique “squeezing” of Jews.

Takeaways for Listeners

• Today's political extremes are converging in their hostility to Jews and Israel, each from distinct but increasingly overlapping ideological backgrounds.
• Goldberg warns against downplaying or ignoring extremism in one's own camp—be it left or right.
• Both performative outrage (for clicks or votes) and the abdication of boundaries (in think tanks, universities, or parties) create real risks for minorities.
• While the threat to lived Jewish life in America is nuanced, both rhetoric and online mobilization have profound and growing consequences.

For extended discussion on whether antisemitism from both fringes threatens to become mainstream and specific historical analogues, listeners are encouraged to subscribe to "Inside Call Me Back."