Trisha Paytas is a “Zionist” (on Ethan Klein and the H3 Contradiction)
Why don’t Trisha Paytas’s fans care about her blatant Zionism?
I recently wrote a post entitled: “Defending Ethan Klein of H3 on Israel-Palestine (‘Zionism’),” in which I attempted to refute the claim that Ethan Klein (and his wife, Hila) are Zionists. Researching this topic revealed an interesting contradiction with his former Frenemies co-host, . Rather, an inconsistency of position among their intersecting fans and enemies.
Many of Trisha Paytas’s fans at present dislike Ethan Klein due to perceptions of his statements on Israel and Palestine since October 7, 2023, the current argument (based on shoddy evidence) that he is a Zionist, against Palestinians, or pro-genocide. Yet between 2021 and 2023, Trisha Paytas herself made nearly identical statements to Klein’s, supporting not only Jewish people but going even further than Klein and outright supporting Israel. She once declared: “We’re for Israel, not Palestine,” a statement quickly corrected by her husband, Moses Hacmon.
Excluding her many other controversies, Paytas has faced some criticism for her favorable comments on Israel, wearing an IDF uniform on multiple occasions in arguably insensitive posts, linking antisemitism to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and a perceived lack of appropriate focus on Israel’s oppression of Palestinians. In 2021 and 2023, she acknowledged the conflict while concentrating mainly on its resultant antisemitism, even comparing protests against Israel’s actions to the start of the Holocaust.
The contradiction of note here: fans of Trisha Paytas declare Ethan Klein a Zionist while still supporting Paytas, despite her similar (and worse) views. My prior post on Klein and this one show a number of similarities in their comments on the conflict; indeed, Klein’s statements have been more pro-Palestinian, and far more condemnatory of Israel and its violence. Perhaps Klein’s words draw greater attention because he is a prominent Jewish figure.
Paytas’s views on Israel and Palestine are not widely shared. That is, it seems on social media, fans of Paytas have paid little attention to them beyond a spattering of small posts. This highlights the need for a nuanced understanding of influencer statements, not blanket support or condemnation on a single topic.
Here is a non-exhaustive collection of Trisha Paytas’s posts on Israel and Palestine, ranging 2021–2023, that her Zionist-critical supporters may wish to compare to Ethan Klein’s:
Refusing to support one person while endorsing another who shares the same, similar, or worse perspectives betrays inconsistent beliefs. It is important to evaluate evidence carefully and fairly so that our worldviews remain coherent. Of course, neither Ethan Klein nor Trisha Paytas matter in the grand scheme of the conflict, but on social media, there are many who believe they do.
