Andrew Klavan, prominent host and commentator for The Daily Wire, set off a wave of online outrage after brazenly suggesting that his ethnic background grants him spiritual superiority over fellow Christians.
On a recent broadcast, Klavan made the startling claim: “Paul said that we were grafted on to the tree of the Jews. You were, I wasn’t, I was born there. So I outrank all y’all. All right, I’m joking. But still… this God who chose the Jews became everybody’s God through Jesus Christ.”
Daily Wire Henchmen Andrew Klaven says he "Outranks" Christians because he's Ethnically Jewish pic.twitter.com/qwnGKxCyNw
— National File (@NationalFile) October 31, 2025
For many listeners, Klavan’s “joke” landed as anything but. The remark appeared to elevate ethnic Jewishness above conversion or confession, another sign of the growing crossover between American conservatism and Zionist exceptionalism. Critics pointed out that this sort of hierarchy is totally alien to both the New Testament and to classical Christian teaching.
Klavan’s comments come at a time when the American right’s posture toward Israel and Zionism has shifted from balanced solidarity to what some call “near-religious devotion.” Zoning in on Israel’s political interests has become routine for pundits and politicians alike, even at the expense of broader conservative and Christian principles. Many conservatives now ignore the fact that political Zionism itself was created by atheists and secularists—hardly the spiritual “tree” invoked by the Apostle Paul.
Christian critics responded by pointing back to Scripture, especially Romans 9:3. Here, Paul does not elevate his kin by ancestry, but grieves for Israel’s rejection of the Messiah: “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” The passage makes clear that no accident of birth can “outrank” faith or salvation in Christ—a message utterly at odds with racial or ethnic privilege.
This episode is symptomatic of a broader trend. For many American conservatives, support for Israel has become a matter of public piety, trumping the very Gospel at the heart of Christianity. Zionism, a movement born from secular political aims, is now treated as sacred dogma on the American right. Speakers like Klavan blur the lines between faith and ethnic nationalism—leaving genuine believers and independent thinkers behind.
As political support for a foreign state is elevated above principle, humility, and scriptural teaching, one has to ask: what, if anything, is left of the conservative movement’s soul?
