The Nexus Newsletter: Watchdog Edition
The past two weeks have revealed a surge of antisemitism coming directly from within American power structures.
Federal agencies have shared antisemitic content. Republican leaders and staffers have been caught using Nazi imagery and language. High school and college students are echoing the same hate.
Real antisemitism and false accusations now work together. Real antisemitism fuels the paranoia that drives their politics, while false accusations of antisemitism silence those who call it out. One supplies the cover, the other the power.
Nexus is committed to tracking and exposing these abuses. The need for clarity and awareness of the unseen stories in this moment is more important than ever.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Border Patrol account posted a 13-second video using Michael Jackson’s lyrics “Jew me, sue me” and “kike me.” They pinned it, where it reached 3.4 million views. When pressed for comment, DHS said only, “We deleted the post and will update with different music. End of story.”
The antisemitic lyrics were the only audio. Far-right users immediately celebrated, with comments like “This deserves 6 million likes and shares.”
This was not the first time. DHS recently tweeted the far-right slogan “Remigrate,” meaning ethnic cleansing through deportation, and has shared videos styled after fascist propaganda.
When a federal law enforcement agency adopts extremist language and faces no accountability, it signals to the public that hate is permissible inside the system meant to prevent it.
A Politico investigation uncovered leaked messages from the New York Young Republican Club showing party leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery, and sexual violence. Messages included “I love Hitler” and “everyone who votes no goes to the gas chamber.”
These are not anonymous extremists. They are future Republican operatives, campaign staffers, and aides. Their conversations show that open antisemitism has become an accepted part of political identity within their circles.
Vice President J.D. Vance dismissed the revelations as “pearl clutching,” a response that underscores how normalized this culture has become inside the party’s next generation.
When leaders refuse to condemn hate, it spreads downward. And when it spreads downward, it eventually governs.
A Reuters investigation revealed that Trump and adviser Stephen Miller are using America’s counter-terrorism apparatus to investigate progressive nonprofits and even Jewish organizations, accusing them of supporting “domestic terrorism.”
The administration’s plan involves using the IRS, DHS, and FBI to strip these groups of tax-exempt status, surveil donors, and prosecute under anti-terror laws.
This is not fighting antisemitism. It is weaponizing the word to silence dissent. The goal is to turn watchdogs into enemies, to criminalize opposition, and to redefine criticism as extremism.
Capitol Police are investigating after a swastika flag was found displayed inside the Washington office of Rep. Dave Taylor (R-Ohio). The altered American flag was pinned behind a staffer’s desk and was visible during a virtual meeting.
Taylor called it “foul play,” but it appeared alongside other official materials. The timing was striking: the image surfaced one day after Politico exposed the Young Republicans’ antisemitic messages.
The discovery of a swastika in a congressional office is not an isolated act of vandalism. It reflects an environment where hate symbols are no longer unthinkable, even in the heart of government.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who previously claimed COVID was designed to spare Ashkenazi Jews, is now promoting a new conspiracy: that circumcision leads to autism. Trump defended the statement, saying there was “tremendous proof.” There is none.
The revival of medical myths targeting Jews has a long history. That such claims now circulate from the cabinet table shows how normalized this thinking has become.
Syracuse University, NY: Two students face possible hate-crime charges after throwing pork into a Jewish fraternity’s Rosh Hashanah dinner.
Manalapan, NJ: Students planned to dress as Hitler and “Holocaust babies” for Halloween, posting “kill every last one please” on TikTok.
Smithfield, RI: Several football players were suspended after a hazing ritual involving antisemitic slurs.
These acts mirror what students see modeled from above: cruelty disguised as humor, hate presented as rebellion, and accountability treated as overreaction.
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This is what we do: track real antisemitism, call out when it’s weaponized, and make clear the difference. If you’d like to support this work, you can donate here. We’d love to connect.
We’ll continue offering clear responses, frameworks, and resources as these stories develop.
The word “antisemitism” is being stretched so thin it’s starting to tear. Actual Jew-hatred is finding its way into congressional primaries and left-wing coalition politics.
Antisemitism is not a feeling, and fighting it is not a vibe. It is concrete work. It looks like enforcing a content policy you wrote.
