Heritage Foundation think tank rocked by antisemitism row after white nationalist interview

A task force dedicated to fighting antisemitism in America has broken its ties with the influential right-wing Heritage Foundation in a row sparked by an interview with a leading white nationalist.

Emails confirm that leaders of the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism have decided to operate “outside of the Heritage Foundation” following its president’s initial defense of a Tucker Carlson podcast interview featuring Nick Fuentes—an extremist known for Holocaust denial and antisemitic rhetoric.

The Heritage Foundation has long enjoyed close ties with prominent Conservative politicians in the UK.

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss and ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman have both delivered keynote speeches at Heritage events in the U.S., while opposition figures such as Robert Jenrick and Shadow Foreign Secretary Priti Patel have also maintained affiliations.

But the fallout from the Fuentes interview has exposed bitter divisions within the Heritage Foundation between conservatives who support Israel and Trump-aligned factions opposing U.S. aid to the Jewish state.

It has also highlighted a clear rise in the tolerence of extreme anti-Israel, and at times antisemitic rhetoric, amongst some in Republican circles across the US.

During his appearance on Carlson’s podcast, Fuentes unleashed a torrent of slurs, questioning American Jews’ loyalty and claiming that “organised Jewry” poses a threat to the nation. Fuentes has previously expressed support for both Hitler and Stalin.

Carlson, a Fox News host, further fueled controversy by suggesting that George Bush and Senator Ted Cruz had been “seized” by a “virus” of “Christian Zionism.”

Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts initially defended airing the interview, insisting that criticism of Israel does not equal antisemitism.

On X Roberts wrote, “Conservatives should feel no obligation to reflexively support any foreign government, no matter how loud the pressure becomes from the globalist class or from their mouthpieces in Washington.”

He described Carlson as a “close friend” and accused critics of “sowing division.”

Roberts’s remarks provoked immediate backlash from leading Republican lawmakers and conservative influencers. “There’s already the Democratic Party that is anti-Israel and is OK with antisemitism,” said Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida. “We’ve got to be very clear we don’t support antisemitism and we do support Israel.”

As the controversy escalated, Roberts issued a video apology on X, acknowledging the damage his statements had caused to Heritage’s efforts to combat antisemitism. The scandal has led to the resignation of at least five task force members and sparked outrage among think tank staff.

The move is particularly significant because the task force was established to address rising antisemitism on the left following the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Laurie Cardoza-Moore, an Evangelical Zionist Christian member of the task force, confirmed she had resigned from the board, declaring, “If the Heritage Foundation wants to stand on the right side of history, they must cut all ties with antisemites.”

She added, “I proudly accepted the invitation to serve on the Heritage Foundation’s Task Force to fight Jew-hatred, but I am being forced to stand down—unless they draw a clear line in the sand.”

In leaked footage of a staff meeting on Wednesday, Roberts told employees, “I made a mistake and I let you down and I let down this institution. Period. Full stop.”

On social media, Roberts condemned Fuentes, writing: “Fuentes made grotesque analogies to try to cast doubt on the murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust and has said, ‘I think the Holocaust is exaggerated. I don’t hate Hitler.’

Fuentes called for the death penalty for ‘perfidious Jews’ and other non-Christians, stating, ‘when we take power, they need to be given the death penalty.’”

Roberts is also the architect of Project 2025—a right-wing manifesto published by Heritage in 2023 outlining plans for expanded presidential powers and an ultra-conservative social agenda for a possible second Trump term.

Trump has since repeatedly disavowed Project 2025 following a backlash over some of its more radical proposals.

Heritage’s UK connections remain strong.

In January, Suella Braverman delivered the Foundation’s annual Margaret Thatcher Freedom Lecture, warning that the UK could become “the first Islamist nation with nuclear weapons” and claiming Britain could “fall into the hands of Muslim fundamentalism” and become like Iran.

In 2022, then-Tory chair Oliver Dowden also spoke at a Heritage event, lamenting that “a social media mob can cancel you” and attacking the “painful woke psychodrama” he said was afflicting the UK.