Heritage Foundation’s Tucker Carlson Controversy Claims More Than 60 Departures: Report

As the Heritage Foundation struggles to rebound from the backlash over its defense of podcaster Tucker Carlson, a new report sheds light on the scale of the controversy’s internal toll.According to a tally from Newsmax, the prominent conservative think tank has lost more than 60 senior staffers, fellows, and trustees in the months since its president, Kevin Roberts, declared his unequivocal support for Mr. Carlson and his decision to platform avowed antisemite and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.A Heritage spokeswoman, disputing Newsmax’s estimate, stated to The New York Sun that “Recent reporting has disreputably exaggerated our staffing changes. In reality, only 32 employees have departed since November.” She added that by Tuesday the think tank will mark “the addition of 21 new patriots to our world-class team since October.” The most recent departure came last week, with the resignation of a senior Heritage policy analyst, Andrew Hale. Explaining his decision, he told Jewish Insider: “I can roll with policy changes, but what I can’t roll with is a tolerance or an overlooking of antisemitism or any form of bigotry.”Mr. Hale, who had worked as a trade policy analyst at Heritage since 2023, joined the expanding ranks of Heritage staffers to defect to Vice President Pence’s conservative advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom. According to a recent estimate from Jewish Insider, some 20 former Heritage employees have made such a move. The wave of resignations began in October, when Mr. Roberts released a video statement to quash speculation that Heritage had distanced itself from its longtime ally Mr. Carlson amid mounting criticism over his embrace of antisemitic ideas and figures.In the statement, Mr. Roberts offered unequivocal support for Mr. Carlson, condemning what he termed a “venomous coalition” of critics whom he accused of attacking the political commentator and “sowing division.”“We will always defend the slander of bad actors who serve someone else’s agenda,” Mr. Roberts declared. “That includes Tucker Carlson, who remains, and as I have said before, always will be a close friend of the Heritage Foundation.” Mr. Roberts also defended Mr. Carlson’s decision to host Mr. Fuentes, a 27-year-old white nationalist influencer and self-proclaimed admirer of Adolf Hitler. During the friendly interview, Mr. Carlson described Christian Zionists as infected by a “brain virus” and offered no pushback when Mr. Fuentes claimed that “organized Jewry in America” represents a major obstacle to national unity.Mr. Roberts stated that while he may “disagree with and even abhor the things that Nick Fuentes says,” he maintained that “canceling him is not the answer.” Instead, he urged the organization to focus on “our political adversaries on the left, not attacking our friends on the right.”Mr. Roberts’s statement drew sharp criticism from pro-Israel and Jewish conservatives who have expressed growing alarm over the party’s reluctance to condemn allies who embrace explicitly antisemitic figures or rhetoric and prompted a wave of resignations across many of the foundation’s departments. In the exodus, the foundation lost five members of its board of trustees, including Darryle Owens, Price Harding, Robert P. George, Abby Moffat, and Shane McCullar. Several longtime financial backers have also halted or scaled back their contributions, according to Newsmax.Heritage framed the resignations as part of a broader internal “realignment,” according to a statement issued to Newsmax.This article has been updated to include a response from the Heritage Foundation.

Heritage Foundation’s Tucker Carlson Controversy Claims More Than 60 Departures: Report

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