Is Tucker Carlson welcome?
This is the question at the center of an ideological civil war roiling the political right, focused on anti-Semitism, Israel and just how big the conservative and MAGA “tent” is after the former Fox News host interviewed antisemitic and white nationalist commentator Nick Fuentes.
And the answer has become a kind of litmus test for conservatives.
Nowhere has been more affected by last week’s debate than the Heritage Foundation. Kevin Roberts, president of a prominent conservative think tank who has a personal friendship with Carlson and is featured in Heritage, made a controversial video last week saying Heritage would not bow to a “toxic coalition” trying to “cancel” Carlson over an interview with Fuentes, while saying “Christians can criticize the State of Israel without being anti-Semites.”
Roberts said in another statement and media appearance that the organization does not condone Fuentes and that its goal is to win over disaffected youth through argument.
But due to uproar over the initial statement the appointment had to be made again.resignhis chief of staff, andResignation of many membersOf its anti-Semitism task force.
Roberts said in a staff meeting Wednesday that the video defending Carlson was a mistake, that “toxic alliance” was a terrible choice of words, and that not canceling friends according to the video is a “limited principle” in that it’s also possible to be clear that “you’re not endorsing everything they said.” Received by Washington Free Beacon,
The debate about the association with Carlson goes far beyond the Heritage Foundation. Other Republicans and conservatives on the right are criticizing Carlson.
Carlson was unequivocally condemned at the Republican Jewish Coalition conference in Las Vegas over the weekend.
“Today, Tucker Carlson is the most dangerous anti-Semite in America,” said Representative Randy Fine (R-Fla.).argued“He has chosen to assume the mantle of leader of the modern-day Hitler Youth; broadcasting and displaying people who celebrate Nazis, call for the destruction of Israel, defend Hamas, even criticize President Trump for halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”
“Guys, make no mistake: Tucker is not MAGA,” Fine said, as young conference attendees held printed signs insisting: “Tucker is not MAGA.”
Ben Shapiro, founder of the conservative Daily Wire,rampant disorderCarlson called him an “intellectual coward, dishonest negotiator and a terrible friend” in the wake of the Fuentes interview on Monday’s episode of his show.
Carlson was a standard-setter for hard-right Republicans when he worked at Fox News, and he remains one of the right’s most powerful and connected commentators. He campaigned for President Trump in 2024 and has upstaged countless Republican politicians and other conservative commentators.
But in recent years, Carlson’s anti-interventionist foreign policy views, attitude toward Russian President Vladimir Putin, and criticism of Israel have made him a target of conservatives and Republicans who advocate a strong and active US role in foreign affairs.
Calls for Carlson to step aside amid right-wing tensions over Israel came long before his interview with Fuentes.
Following the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in September, Carlson, Turning Point USA employees and others spoke publicly about whether Kirk was under pressure from pro-Israel donors to disassociate with Carlson, but Kirk stood by Carlson anyway.
Two days before Kirk was murdered, a top donor to Turning Point USA told Kirk that he was going to donate $2 million to support Turning Point USA’s collaboration with Carlson and that he was being invited to speak at the organization’s flagship December event, AmericaFest. the new York TimesinformedThat donor was tech billionaire Robert J. Shilman was.
Longtime GOP opponents of Carlson’s ideology hope his interview with Fuentes will help others on the right see him as a pariah.
“I’ve had a long-running feud with Tucker Carlson. I’m glad everyone is now waking up to what a bad person he is,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said Sunday on “Face the Nation.”
“The idea that … if we keep Tucker out of the loop from now on that it’s going to be cancel culture, that’s just nonsense,” Crenshaw said.
carlsonSaid on podcast with FuentesHe wanted to understand Fuentes’s views, saying that although he also questioned the US relationship with Israel, saying that “it’s really the Jews” “goes against my Christian faith.” But he was criticized for not being aggressive enough in challenging Fuentes’s ideology – or for praising Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin – as well as for saying that he disliked Christian Zionists “more than anyone.”
Carlson responded to several criticisms during his interview with Fuentes.appearanceOn comedian and Israel critic Dave Smith’s podcast. He said he was sorry for his comments about Christian Zionists, and that he was “maddened by a certain way of thinking.” He regrets that he did not return to Fuentes about his admiration for Stalin.
But Carlson said of the intense reaction in his interview: “This is something bigger … On a political level, this is a fight over what happens after Donald Trump. What does the Republican Party look like? Does it really pursue an America First foreign policy as it was promised 10 years ago?
“Who Raised Randy Fine?”. Carlson said later, referring to the Florida congressman’s criticism. “Those people are not the future at all. That’s why they’re crazy.”
Some Republicans whom Carlson features on his show have no desire to engage in debate about him as an individual in the midst of an ideological civil war.
Asked about Carlson’s place in the conservative movement, Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said: “I’m not getting into that story at all. I support the State of Israel.”
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) had somewhatvague answerWhen he was asked whether Carlson had any place in the conservative movement?national review reporterOn Tuesday.
Johnson said, “Look, I’ve heard a compilation of some of the worst things Nick Fuentes has said. It’s absolutely outrageous.”
He added, “I think wherever there is anti-Semitism, we have to call it out. And I don’t think, whether it’s Tucker or anyone else, I don’t think we should give a platform to that speech. They have a First Amendment right, but we should never elevate it.”
