What Did Charlie Kirk Believe About AIPAC’s Influence on U.S. Sovereignty?
Charlie repeatedly said that AIPAC is not nearly as powerful as people think.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has become a convenient bogeyman for both the far left and parts of the so-called woke right. They talk about it as if it’s some shadowy cabal pulling levers behind the curtain, dictating U.S. foreign policy by blackmailing elected officials. That’s a lazy way of thinking about how influence actually works in the federal government.
Here’s the truth: AIPAC is made up of Americans—citizens who care deeply about a foreign policy issue that matters to them. It is funded by American citizens, not the Israeli government. And the same way Armenian Americans advocate for recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Indian Americans work to strengthen ties with New Delhi, or Cuban Americans lobby for sanctions on the communist regime in Havana—American Jews advocate for Israel. That’s not foreign interference. It’s called civic participation.
And let’s not pretend AIPAC is the only voice in the room. There are tens of millions of Evangelical Christians—Charlie included—who believe standing with Israel is a moral and theological imperative. They read Scripture. They know what Genesis says about blessing those who bless Israel—a passage Charlie quoted often. Their support for Israel comes from faith, not a “foreign lobby.”
The Double Standard No One Talks About
Once, on his Brainwashed Tour, Charlie was asked to condemn AIPAC because it “undermines American sovereignty.” He responded:
“Is the American Armenian Association lobby in D.C. undermining American sovereignty? … Are Taiwanese Americans that advocate that China does not incur against them, are they undermining American sovereignty? … Are Ukrainian Americans that are lobbying for money so they can repel Vladimir Putin, are they undermining American sovereignty? Can you answer those questions? Or is it only the Jews that are undermining American sovereignty?”
Let’s call that out for what it is—a double standard.
And it becomes even starker once you realize that there are far more nefarious efforts by foreign governments doing exactly what some are accusing Israel of doing. The Chinese Communist Party’s United Front network, for example, coordinates influence and interference operations worldwide—including in the United States—to shape policy in favor of the CCP and to gain access to advanced foreign technology. CCP-linked lobbyists have even convinced Philadelphia—the birthplace of America—to raise the CCP flag three separate times over City Hall, most recently in September 2025. There was zero outrage from the usual voices who accuse Israel of foreign influence. Imagine if it had been the Israeli flag.
Iran is another example. The Islamic Republic runs its own influence machine—an operation called the Iran Experts Initiative—that has embedded Tehran-aligned operatives deep inside our federal government. One of them, Ariane Tabatabai, actually served as Chief of Staff to the Office of Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict in the Biden Pentagon. Think about that. An individual tied to an Iranian influence network with access to the highest levels of classified intelligence, helping steer US foreign policy to be more sympathetic to Iran. How much backlash was there from the America First crowd?
The Real Drivers of America’s Pro-Israel Stance
The truth is that AIPAC reflects the values of a large portion of the Republican base. Voters in those districts are overwhelmingly pro-Israel. They don’t need to be “manipulated” by a lobby. They believe in Israel because they see a free nation surrounded by Islamic tyranny—a democracy that shares America’s values, our culture, our commitment to liberty. In a region dominated by Islam and the wars that come with it, Israel is the one nation holding the line for America and the West.
That’s why Charlie said that AIPAC’s influence is real, but overestimated. The real driver of America’s pro-Israel stance is the American people themselves—ordinary voters, pastors, students, and families who understand that Israel’s fight is, in many ways, our fight.
In Charlie’s words:
“There are tens of millions of people in the Republican party that are Christians that care a lot about Israel. And I’m Evangelical, so I know that word that world very well. So yes, AIPAC has a lot of influence, but we also must have, I think, some nuance to understand that there is a portion, a large portion of the Republican party that does believe and have a soft spot for Israel.”
Now, does that mean AIPAC is perfect? Of course not. No organization is. But to call it an “agent of a foreign power” is absurd. Americans lobbying their own government about foreign policy doesn’t make them disloyal—it makes them engaged. And Charlie wanted more engagement, not less.
The obsession with AIPAC says more about its critics than it does about AIPAC itself. Out of all the foreign policy lobbies in Washington—China, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia—it’s the one tied to the world’s only Jewish state that gets singled out, vilified, and dissected. Charlie would often ask: why that one?
“The standard that you are setting for Israel, which albeit is a very principled stand, you should apply it to every other foreign country and the immigrants thereof that have come to this country that lobby Washington DC for countries they care about. And yet Israel gets all the attention,” Charlie once said. “And so half the world’s Jewry, with a country the size of New Jersey in the Middle East that has democratic elections, individual rights, and is the most like America in the Middle East, seems to be the obsession of the American media and the American college campuses. You have to wonder why.”
So no—Charlie didn’t believe AIPAC undermines American sovereignty. He believed it represents the will of millions of Americans who love freedom and want a strong future for Western civilization.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uea-A0wZ_ko
https://www.thefp.com/p/ariane-tabatabai-pentagon-iran-ties-exposed
