C-SPAN Caller Accuses Ben Cardin of Dual Loyalty to Israel
Image by Getty Images
A talk-show caller accused a Jewish U.S. senator, Ben Cardin, of dual loyalty to Israel.
Eric from Georgia said on C-SPAN that the Maryland Democrat, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, should disclose that he is Jewish when discussing U.S.-Iran relations.
“Mr. Cardin looks like a regular white guy, nice guy, whatever, but in actuality he’s a Jewish white guy,” Eric said Wednesday. “If the public was informed of that by C-SPAN, I think they would take his comments differently.”
Cardin appeared on C-SPAN to discuss his reactions to the Iran nuclear deal signed on Tuesday, which he has said raises “a lot of questions.”
Eric accused Cardin of having “a conflict of interest.”
“Because this guy is Jewish, that means that he is concerned about Israel,” the caller said.
Cardin took the caller to task for accusing him of having a dual loyalty due to his Jewish heritage.
“I’m normally pretty tolerant to people who ask questions, but I’m not to your assumption. I take great offense to that,” Cardin said in response. “Our loyalty is to America, our concerns are with America, our religion is our personal business and should have nothing to do with an evaluation from anyone as to our objectivity on issues concerning America.”
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Dive In
-
Fast Forward He called a Nazi sympathizer ‘extraordinary.’ Now he’s a nominee for U.S. attorney.
-
Fast Forward Texas bakery reportedly becomes first bagel shop to be named James Beard Award finalist
-
Fast Forward ‘That’s Simchas Torah’: The Jewish Val Kilmer moment you might have missed
-
Fast Forward From ‘October 8’ to ‘The Encampments,’ these new documentaries illuminate the post-Oct. 7 American experience
Most Popular
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward He called a Nazi sympathizer ‘extraordinary.’ Now he’s a nominee for U.S. attorney.
-
Opinion This is my last column as editor of the Forward
-
Books Unwieldy, unnerving, and a masterpiece — the last great Yiddish novel has arrived
-
Fast Forward Texas bakery reportedly becomes first bagel shop to be named James Beard Award finalist
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.