Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky publicly rebuked Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts on Friday after Roberts defended Tucker Carlson’s interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, a conversation that included antisemitic remarks and Holocaust denial.
Fuentes, long known for extremist rhetoric, has repeatedly denied the Holocaust and made comments widely condemned as antisemitic.
Carlson, the former Fox News host, has faced criticism for giving Fuentes a platform. Roberts, however, said Heritage would not distance itself from Carlson, arguing that “Christians can critique the state of Israel without being antisemitic.” He added, “And of course, antisemitism should be condemned.”
The remarks sparked swift backlash from leading Republicans who said such rhetoric undermines the moral clarity of the conservative movement. “Now is a time for choosing,” Cruz said during the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Annual Summit in Las Vegas. “If you sit there with someone who says Adolf Hitler was very cool and that their mission is to defeat ‘global Jewry,’ and you say nothing, then you are a coward, and you are complicit in that evil.”
McConnell issued a similar warning, posting on X that “the ‘intellectual backbone of the conservative movement’ is only as strong as the values it defends.” He continued, “Last I checked, conservatives should feel no obligation to carry water for antisemites and apologists for America-hating autocrats. But maybe I just don’t know what time it is…”
Their remarks reflect a broader unease within the Republican Party over how to handle figures and ideas at the political fringes. The party’s leadership, long allied with Heritage on issues of policy and judicial appointments, appeared intent on drawing a firm moral line.
Democrats also condemned Roberts’ statement. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York called it “deeply disturbing, an embrace of antisemitism and white supremacist conspiracy theories.” He said Roberts’ defense of Carlson’s interview “traffics in antisemitic conspiracy theories of ‘globalist’ powers that control U.S. policy” and urged conservatives to reject what he described as “the mainstreaming of these hateful ideologies.”
Matt Brooks, the CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, also expressed outrage. “I’m appalled, offended, and disgusted that he and Heritage would stand with Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes as somehow being acceptable spokespeople within the conservative movement,” Brooks told Jewish Insider.
The controversy comes as Republicans grapple with a series of incidents linking far-right and antisemitic elements to parts of the party. In recent months, reports have surfaced of Nazi imagery appearing in internal GOP communications, including a swastika found in a lawmaker’s office and references to Nazi ideology in a Young Republicans group chat.
While Roberts sought to distinguish criticism of Israel from antisemitism, many conservatives see his defense of Carlson as a step too far. For figures like Cruz and McConnell, the episode represents not only a moral challenge but also a test of whether the conservative movement can uphold its principles without compromising its integrity.
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