WhatsappTucker Carlson targeted the very idea of Israel and the Jewish people.
The defense of former Fox News host and current podcaster Tucker Carlson by Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, following a viciously anti-Israel broadcast that featured Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, is disheartening, outrageous and sobering.
In doing so, Roberts risks unraveling the incredible legacy of Edwin Feulner’s Heritage Foundation as the “intellectual backbone of the conservative movement” and poisoning the moral clarity that once animated it. His fateful decision runs counter to the ongoing work of numerous Heritage scholars advocating shared Judeo-Christian values, fighting antisemitism and defending our friendship with Israel.
Roberts began his defense of Carlson by saying, “Christians can critique the State of Israel without being antisemitic.” No one disputes that Christians may critique Israeli policy; however, Carlson’s tirades were no mere “policy critique.” He targeted the very idea of Israel and the Jewish people.
Throughout his lengthy conversation with Fuentes, Carlson ridiculed Christians who affirm the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. “[U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike] Huckabee, [Sen.] Ted Cruz, and there are a lot like that … all … seized by this brain virus, and they’re not Jewish. Most of them are self-described Christians.”
He derided Christian Zionism as “heresy” and says he “dislike[s] them more than anybody.” He then called for the United States to strip citizenship from Americans serving in the Israel Defense Forces.
His disdain for Israel has been on full display since the heinous Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, claiming that Hamas is more of a “political organization.” He has repeatedly hosted anti-Israel guests, while he falsely accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza, stating, “the Israeli position is everyone who lives in Gaza is a terrorist … . [This is] collective punishment … It’s genocidal.” He’s also falsely accused Israel of restricting religious freedom at the Temple Mount. That is not “criticism,” it is libelous disparagement.
Alarmingly, Roberts blamed the “globalist class” and “their mouthpieces in Washington” for placing what he stated was an “obligation” on conservatives to “reflexively support” Israel. But the “globalists” in the United Nations constantly target the world’s only Jewish state with condemnations, boycotts and legal action. Those advocating in our nation’s capital for a strong alliance with Israel are not “globalist mouthpieces,” they’re American citizens, often working on their own time to speak with their representatives in Congress.
Roberts insists that Heritage “didn’t become the intellectual backbone of the conservative movement by canceling our own people.” Opposing cancel culture, however, does not mean suspending moral judgment. He further argues that Heritage should not “police the consciences of Christians.” But does this mean embracing a figure who provides a sympathetic platform to foreign adversaries, dictators and antisemites hostile to American values? Is such a person truly one of “our own?”
Tucker’s record speaks for itself.
In March, Carlson interviewed Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in a segment titled “War with Iran? The prime minister of Qatar is being attacked in the media for wanting to stop it.” The prime minister defended Qatar’s ties to Hamas as a “mediation tool” and criticized U.S. sanctions. Carlson offered virtually no challenge.
In February 2024, Carlson traveled to Moscow to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian dictator was allowed to present a revisionist justification for invading Ukraine, blaming NATO expansion and calling Ukraine “an artificial state.” Carlson listened approvingly, offering only token interruptions.
In July, Carlson interviewed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, allowing him to deny nuclear ambitions, dismiss assassination allegations and whitewash his regime’s repression. Once again, no meaningful pushback.
These interviews are not the mark of a principled conservative. They are the hallmark of a demagogue who flatters tyrants while scorning allies.
Roberts decries “policing consciences.” Yet, the Christian Bible also advises to “test the spirits” and warns that “by their fruits you shall know them.” Carlson’s fruits are plain: Fawning interviews with dictators, vitriol toward authentic conservatives like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and political commentator Mark Levin, and praise for his favorite “historian” Darryl Cooper, who calls former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill the “chief villain” of World War II and mocks the biblical right of Jews to their homeland as “retarded.” People of goodwill can see this for what it is: not conscience, but the corrosion of it.
Roberts promises Heritage will “always defend our friends against the slander of bad actors.” But here, Carlson is the bad actor. Huckabee and Cruz, longtime Heritage allies, were targets of Carlson’s derision for their support of Israel; neither Cruz nor Huckabee was the instigator. Israel itself, America’s most loyal Middle Eastern ally, has been slandered by Carlson’s baseless charges of genocide.
Heritage’s Project Esther, named after the Jewish queen who saved her people from destruction, was created to “erode support for antisemitic behavior” and to “expose the individuals and organizations supporting such conduct.” How bitterly ironic that the president of Heritage now champions a man trafficking in the very behavior Project Esther sought to confront. Roberts considers many of those Project Esther members to be part of “the venomous coalition” for daring to speak out about the dangers posed by Tucker’s propaganda machine.
Roberts boasts that he does not “take direction from members or donors.” On that point, he is certainly correct. His stance represents a radical break from the convictions of many Heritage supporters, including donors who have left generous endowments in defense of Western civilization in general and the defense of Israel in particular, as Israel is under siege by radical jihadists and their allies.
Many remain unaware that the organization they loved has veered toward moral confusion at the top. They should make their voices heard. Roberts does not speak for me as a Heritage alumnus; he does not represent the values of many allies of Israel who remain on staff and on the Heritage board; and he does a disservice to those giving of their livelihoods to the Heritage Foundation.
Roberts, a historian, might recall Greek playwright Menander as echoed by Paul in a letter written 2,000 years ago: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
