Remember when cancel culture was frowned upon?
Civil war erupts on the right after Heritage president’s Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes comments
A civil war over the direction of the conservative movement and who should be considered part of it erupted after Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts posted a video Thursday defending Tucker Carlson for interviewing white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
The statement sparked backlash from Republican senators and a number of traditionally conservative organizations — and from staffers within the Heritage Foundation itself who say that Fuentes, who is known for antisemitic commentary, and his ideas are not worthy of debate.
“Nick Fuentes is a disgusting, anti-American, antisemitic loser. He is not a conservative, not America First, and not an ally of President Trump or any conservative organization,” one Heritage staffer, granted anonymity to share candid thoughts, told The Hill. “In his own words, Nick Fuentes is an ally of Stalin, Hitler, and the Taliban. That is not someone with ideas worthy of debate. Conservatives should pray he gets the help he needs, not give him even an inch of space in our movement.”
But Roberts had also gotten strong backup from the heads of other conservative groups and commentators with influence in the Trump administration, like former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who argued it should not be controversial to debate U.S. aid to Israel and that attempts to “cancel” those with opposing views are not productive.
Following the uproar, Roberts posted another statement Friday more explicitly condemning the antisemitism from Fuentes and his followers, but not backing down from his defense of Carlson conducting the interview.
Roberts, who has made the leading conservative think tank more aligned with the MAGA base, posted a video statement Thursday asserting that the “venomous coalition attacking” Carlson over the interview is “sowing division” and that the “attempt to cancel him will fail.”