Once upon a time, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was a trusted institution in American life. Founded in 1913 with the noble purpose of fighting antisemitism and protecting Jews from harassment and discrimination, it fulfilled a much-needed role during an era when antisemitism was far more mainstream than it is today. The group earned its reputation by doing what it set out to do: defend Jewish communities against defamation and prejudice, without regard for partisan politics. But like so many institutions that once stood above the fray, the ADL has morphed into something completely different — and not for the better.
Somewhere along the way, the mission changed. Instead of focusing squarely on antisemitism, the ADL began to embrace the broader and ever-expanding “progressive” idea of “hate.” At first glance, that might sound reasonable: Who doesn’t want to fight hate? But redefining hate is where the trouble begins, because for so-called progressives, “hate” has come to mean anything that challenges left-wing orthodoxy. It’s no longer about stamping out true bigotry or shielding vulnerable communities from harassment; rather, it’s about demonizing political opponents, and the ADL eagerly joined the bandwagon.
As leftist activists have steadily broadened the definition of extremism to swallow up mainstream conservative ideas, the ADL has sadly followed suit.
What does that mean in practice? It means that if you question the wisdom of open borders, raise doubts about radical gender ideology, or push back on leftist narratives about systemic racism, the ADL is ready to slap you with the extremist label. In other words, instead of defending free speech and calling out genuine antisemitism, the organization is now handing out scarlet letters to conservatives guilty of nothing more than refusing to bend the knee to progressive talking points.
Last week, the charade got another spotlight when social media users discovered that the ADL includes the phrase “America First” among its glossary of hate terms.
Why is "America First" being labeled as hate speech by the ADL? pic.twitter.com/SVUkbrpTsZ
— Owen Shroyer (@OwenShroyer1776) August 15, 2025
The phrase, of course, simply means that U.S. policies should prioritize the safety, prosperity, and interests of American citizens above destructive international entanglements or the whims of global institutions. It champions secure borders, energy independence, fair trade, revival of American manufacturing, and a foreign policy aimed at strength without endless war. For millions of hardworking Americans, it’s nothing radical — it’s common sense.
But not to the ADL. They argue that “America First” harkens back to the World War II-era America First Committee and has therefore become tainted by extremists who use it “in antisemitic, racist, and xenophobic ways.” They grudgingly admit the slogan became central to Trump’s platform but claim it is bound up in “nationalism, nonintervention and anti-immigrant and anti-globalism beliefs.”
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In other words, loving your country, questioning globalist agendas, and expecting a sovereign nation to control its borders is apparently indistinguishable from bigotry. That’s the warped lens through which today’s ADL views the world.
It’s hard to overstate how damaging this is. The ADL, much like the Southern Poverty Law Center, relies on its reputation as an authority on hate and bigotry to sway media coverage, influence governments, and shape public opinion. But the more it weaponizes that credibility against ordinary conservatives, the more obvious it becomes that its mission is no longer neutral or even primarily about antisemitism — it’s about punishing the political right.
This is not to say the ADL doesn’t occasionally stumble into defending someone the left tries to smear. Earlier this year, the organization pushed back when activists falsely accused Elon Musk of flashing a Nazi salute during a post-inaugural ceremony. But moments like that are the exception, not the rule. Far more often, the group spends its time expanding its ever-growing blacklist of “extremist” ideas that just so happen to align with conservative policy positions.
The tragedy here is that real antisemitism exists and needs to be fought, but organizations like the ADL squander that vital mission by obsessing over policing political language and serving as an enforcer for leftist ideology. When everything from secure borders to strong national defense gets tarred as extremist code words, the term “hate” becomes meaningless. And in the process, the ADL’s credibility, once built on a righteous mission, is being dismantled by the organization's politics.
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