The Heritage Foundation, one of Washington’s most influential conservative think tanks, has been thrown into disarray following its president Kevin Roberts’ public defense of Tucker Carlson after the former Fox News host aired a controversial interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
The New York Post reported Monday that Roberts’ decision to stand by Carlson — despite widespread condemnation of Fuentes’ antisemitic and extremist rhetoric — has ignited a storm of dissent within Heritage’s ranks, leading to resignations, internal anger, and calls from board members for Roberts to step aside.
According to internal chats reviewed by the Post, senior Heritage staff privately described themselves as “embarrassed” and “disgusted” by Roberts’ response to Carlson’s two-hour interview with Fuentes, who has denied the Holocaust and praised totalitarian leaders.
“This is the most embarrassed I’ve ever been to be a Heritage employee. It’s not close,” one wrote. Another staffer called Roberts’ defense “ridiculous” and questioned how “a premeditated and orchestrated response” like it could have come from a leading conservative institution.
The controversy began after Carlson’s interview with Fuentes was posted online, garnering more than 17 million views on X.
In the conversation, Fuentes called himself “a fan” of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, railed against “organized Jewry,” and dismissed Christian support for Israel.
Carlson himself accused American Christians who back the Jewish state of being “heretics” afflicted by a “brain virus.”
Three days later, Roberts released a video statement decrying attempts to “cancel our own people” and defending Carlson as a “close friend of the Heritage Foundation.”
His remarks, which have since been viewed over 23 million times, described the backlash against Carlson as “venomous” and “sowing division.”
“I disagree with and even abhor things that Nick Fuentes said,” Roberts said, “but canceling him is not the answer either.”
That statement — aimed at defending free speech, according to Roberts — instead deepened internal outrage.
“If we are labeled on the same side as Nick Fuentes, then we deserve to lose,” one staffer wrote. Another accused Roberts of “playing footsie with literal Nazis.”
The backlash has already claimed casualties. The Post confirmed that Roberts’ chief of staff, Ryan Neuhaus, was reassigned shortly after the controversy — a move described internally as being sent to “the Siberia of Heritage.”
Neuhaus later resigned from the organization altogether.
Heritage has also been hit by the departure of David Bernstein, a Jewish scholar and former member of Heritage’s “Project Esther” task force, which focused on combating antisemitism.
Bernstein told the Post that Roberts’ reference to a “venomous coalition” opposing Carlson felt like “a real attack against Jewish political agency.”
“The idea that conservatives should have ‘no enemies to the right’ is dangerous,” Bernstein said. “It allows people to justify almost anything said in the name of conservatism.”
Sources told the Post that the foundation has been “hemorrhaging” support from evangelical Christian and Jewish donors since Roberts’ remarks.
Adding to the tension, references to Heritage’s sponsorship of “The Tucker Carlson Network” — which aired the Fuentes interview — have reportedly been scrubbed from the organization’s donations page.
The uproar has not been limited to staff and donors. Prominent board members, including Princeton University professor Robert P. George, have privately and publicly voiced alarm over Roberts’ leadership.
George, a respected conservative scholar who joined the board in 2019, has been urging fellow trustees to consider removing Roberts, sources told the Post.
“American conservatism today faces a challenge,” George wrote on X. “It comes from those who reject our commitment to inherent and equal human dignity. They openly preach white supremacy and hatred of Jews.”
One insider said that Roberts’ “defenders barely saved his bacon” in a tense weekend of internal discussions.
Heritage representatives have denied reports of an emergency board meeting but confirmed that Roberts has canceled several scheduled appearances in the wake of the crisis.
In a follow-up statement on Oct. 31, Roberts sought to clarify his position, insisting that he “stood against” Fuentes’ “vicious antisemitic ideology” and Holocaust denial.
He also told RealClearPolitics that his goal had been to provide “nuance” in a debate about free expression. “You can detest things that people say without making the tactical error of canceling them,” Roberts said.
Despite the turmoil, Heritage maintains that Roberts retains the support of the board.
“Heritage’s Board of Trustees continues to support Dr. Roberts and our entire team,” a spokesperson told the Post.
The think tank is set to hold a previously scheduled staff town hall this week, where Roberts is expected to address the controversy directly.
Yet the episode underscores a growing rift within the conservative movement.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, warned at last weekend’s Republican Jewish Coalition event, “In the last six months, I’ve seen more antisemitism on the right than I have in my entire life. If you say nothing, then you are a coward and you are complicit in that evil.”
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