Overview
- Tucker Carlson hosted white nationalist Nick Fuentes this week and drew criticism from conservatives for giving minimal pushback to antisemitic and pro‑Stalin claims.
- Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts posted a video Thursday defending Carlson, rejecting calls to 'cancel' Fuentes, and labeling Carlson’s critics a 'venomous coalition' while arguing conservatives need not reflexively back foreign governments.
- Republican leaders including Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Mitch McConnell condemned Roberts’s stance, warning that failing to confront antisemitism amounts to complicity and undermines conservative values.
- Following the backlash, Roberts issued a second statement Friday explicitly denouncing Fuentes’s antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and misogynistic rhetoric, yet he maintained opposition to 'canceling' and did not distance Heritage from Carlson.
- The controversy sparked internal dissent at Heritage and prompted the Republican Jewish Coalition to say it would reassess ties, as other conservative groups and figures split over Israel policy and whether platforming extremists should be opposed or debated.