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Candace Owens speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at The Rosen Shingle Creek on February 25, 2022 in Orlando, Florida.Joe Raedle/Getty Images

(LifeSiteNews) — Its no secret that support for Israel has become a lightning rod on the political right. While a growing number of conservatives have expressed disapproval of the influence Zionists are having on the Trump administration, there is an equally strong contingent hitting back against them.

Earlier this year, the Daily Wire hired Catholic author and podcaster Matt Fradd. The move was seen by some as yet another Zionist media organization scooping up a Catholic influencer in order to bring them under its umbrella to co-opt him for its cause.

Whether thats true or not, a number of pro-Israel Catholics already work at the Daily Wire, including Michael Knowles, Margaret Mary Olohan, and Bree Dail. At the same time, on March 19 the Daily Wire published an essay by Fradd himself titled Why Ted Cruz Is Wrong About Christian Zionism.So it would seem that the website is at least open to allowing dissenting opinions on the subject.

This week the Daily Wire published an essay arguing the opposite side of what Fradd maintained in his article. Ryan Girdusky, formerly a contributor to the Daily Caller, was the author of the essay. It argued that there is a troubling patternemerging among newcomers to Catholicism as of late.

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High-profile converts appear to be using their newfound membership in the Catholic faith as nothing more than a political prop,Girdusky wrote without naming names, though likely referring to Candace Owens and Carrie Prejean Boller.

A vocal cadre of political influencers are using their Catholicism to build social media platforms, feigning purity as an E-girl or, even worse, promoting antisemitism,he further alleged, without defining the term.

Girdusky then said that recent converts seem to forget that the Church rejects any form of antisemitism, condemns hostility toward Jews, and upholds the enduring covenant with the Jewish people as Gods chosen people.As such, new membership in the Catholic faith should not serve as your call to action against the State of Israel.

Girduskys article caught the attention of conservative influencer Calvin Robinson, who is a former Anglican clergyman. Robinson said that the Daily Wire is attempting to manipulate Catholics by publishing the piece but that Catholics cannot be manipulated in the same way as evangelicals.

Catholics are not Zionists. It is in Israels interests to have Christians believe they must be committed Zionists to receive Gods blessing,’” he said in an X post.

Others have pushed back against Girdusky on social media as well. Gen Z Catholic Influencer Joe Enders has issued a number of X posts denouncing Girduskys claim that the Church teaches that there is an enduring covenant with the Jewish people as Gods chosen people.

Enders noted that the USCCB revised its 2019 Catechism for Adults on the subject. While stating that the Jews were whom God first chose to hear his Word,the USCCB removed language about their covenant with God still being valid.

Command Media also pointed out that in Vatican II documents Lumen Gentium and Nostra Aetate the Catholic Church is referred to as the new Israel and the new People of God.

Aside from his claims about new converts, Girduskys real goal in writing this essay is to shame Catholics who expose Israels undue amount of influence over U.S. politics. His warnings about not turning the faith into a political propand his concerns that Catholics are being anti-Semiticare nothing more than red herrings. They are simply designed to maintain the status quo on the political right that has relegated Catholics to a supportive role in a space that has been dominated by evangelical Zionists for decades.

The massively successful Catholics for Catholics event last week in Washington D.C. showed that Catholics in the U.S. are not listening to voices like Girdusky’s. The gathering showed that Catholics are not only capable of standing on their own two feet but that they are going to do so no matter what. They are slowly realizing that they dont need to rely on Protestants and Jews to achieve political victories. And thats a good thing.

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