November 4, 2025
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The Comments That Sparked a Firestorm
The president of one of the nation’s most influential conservative policy organizations released a statement defending his ties to conservative media firebrands Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes. Kevin Roberts of The Heritage Foundation made his statement days after Carlson hosted neo-Nazi influencer Fuentes on his podcast. Both hate-mongers command audiences of tens of millions and maintain ties to many senior political officials.
The pair promoted anti-Jewish conspiracy theories and threats during their more than two-hour conversation. Fuentes accused conservative “Zionist Jews” Ben Shapiro, Dave Rubin and Dennis Prager of “controlling the media.” He also stated that Jews cannot be assimilated into the countries they live in – despite abundant evidence to the contrary. Fuentes founded the white-nationalist Groyper movement that praises Hitler and white Christian nationalism. He also has made overt racist and sexist remarks.
In his podcast interview, Carlson described Christian Zionists as heretics for supporting Israel. He claimed that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and former President George W. Bush have been “seized by a brain virus.”
The Heritage Foundation – a 52-year-old leading conservative U.S. think tank – has historically shaped Republican policy platforms and gained significantly greater influence in the current administration. Its president criticized the “venomous coalition attacking our close friend” Carlson for “sowing division.” Roberts insisted that Heritage should “focus on our political adversaries on the left, not attacking our friends on the right.” He added that while he “abhors” some of Fuentes’ views, he would not “cancel him.” Following condemnations of his comments, Roberts denounced Fuentes on X – but did not comment on Carlson.
Several key members of Heritage’s Project Esther conservative “national strategy to counter antisemitism” resigned.
Republican Pushback: Drawing the Line
Republican leaders and conservative Jewish voices responded quickly. Some spoke at the annual Republican Jewish Coalition convention, although not everyone specifically named Carlson and Fuentes in their condemnations.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz: “We are seeing more and more anti-Jewish hate rising on the right. In the last six months, I have seen more antisemitism on the right than I have in my entire life. This is a poison. And I believe we are facing an existential crisis in our party and in our country.”
U.S. Rep. Randy Fine unequivocally condemned Carlson and Heritage: “We must call evil by its name: Tucker Carlson is the most dangerous antisemite in America. He has chosen to take on the mantle of leader of a modern-day Hitler youth to broadcast those who celebrate the Nazis, call for the extermination of Israel, defend Hamas and even criticize President Trump for stopping Iran’s nuclear ambitions. I am cancelling an event with Heritage and will be calling on all of my Republican colleagues to do the same.”
Rep. Fine also condemned two of his Republican House colleagues: “I have the distinct displeasure of serving with two overt antisemites: Rep. Thomas Massie and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green. It makes my stomach crawl that I have to sit in the same room with them. So now we have to choose. Will we ignore these embarrassments to our party?”
The Difference Between Free Speech and Promoting Hate
The chair of Heritage’s National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, Mark Goldfeder, resigned, citing moral clarity: “The Jewish people have too often suffered when fighting hatred became a partisan sport. I have spent much of my legal career defending free expression, including speech I personally abhor. But defending this right is not the same as endorsing the platform of those who use it to dehumanize others. Free speech protects the right to speak and not to compel anyone to provide a megaphone for a Nazi. Choosing not to share a platform with bigotry is not censorship, it is conscience.”
Princeton legal scholar Robert P. George, a member of the Heritage Board of Trustees: “I am committed to free speech for everybody, including bigots, but defending their rights does not mean allying with them and welcoming them into our movement. They openly preach white supremacy and the hatred of Jews. They no longer feel the need even to try to hide their bigotry.”
Anti-Jewish hate and bigotry also have continued to increase on the far left. Radical groups that claim to fight oppression increasingly single out Jews and Israel for exclusion. Former U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt stated that “unlike most other prejudices, antisemitism is ubiquitous, coming from all ends of the political spectrum. It can emanate from anyone and anywhere: those on the right, those on the left, those in the middle and from Christians, Muslims, atheists, and, of course, Jews.”
The ‘Woke Right’: Revisionism and Resentment
The Heritage controversy also exposed a deeper trend reshaping parts of the conservative movement – a “woke right” – that claims to defend Western civilization while eroding the moral foundations that built it. In online spaces and podcasts, a growing cohort of self-styled “new right” influencers has begun revising history to portray fascist figures – including Hitler and Stalin – as misunderstood defenders of tradition.
Fuentes told Carlson he is an “admiring fan” of Soviet Union dictator Joseph Stalin. His man-made famines killed more than 3 million in Ukraine, imprisoned millions in forced labor camps (Gulags) and forcibly deported ethnic groups to remote regions. Carlson also hosted Nazi apologist Darryl Cooper who falsely claimed that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill provoked war with the Nazis and the Holocaust was not planned in advance.
Speaking at the RJC convention, conservative Black influencer Officer Brandon Tatum: “You have a guy on your show that was a big fan of Stalin. You can have him on the show, but you better push back. There’s no way you can say that you’re a Christian. There’s no way you can say you believe in God and you support a person like Joseph Stalin who did not believe in God, who killed so many people.”
Defending Civilization, America and Israel
Ted Cruz defended the U.S.-Israel alliance: “I am very proud to be a Christian Zionist. I choose to stand with Israel, and I choose to stand with America. The enemies of Israel hate America. Because those who hate Jews hate Christians.” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham echoed his comments: “Everybody who wants to destroy the Jewish state wants to kill us, too. Common values and common enemies.” And U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley: “I say as a conservative and a Christian: There is no place for anti-Jewish hate and tropes.”
The ADL recently presented its democracy defender award to Oklahoma City mayor David Holt. The Native American commented that “bigotry toward Jewish people is one of the symptoms of decaying civilizations throughout human history.”
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This content is developed by The Focus Project in partnership with MERCAZ USA. The Focus Project distributes weekly news and talking points on timely issues concerning Israel and the Jewish people, including antisemitism, anti-Zionism and the delegitimization of Israel. It represents a consensus view across a spectrum of major American Jewish organizations. MERCAZ USA recognizes and respects the diversity of views on these issues among its readers and the community at large.