HERITAGE SHOCK: Trustees QUIT as Boss Shields Carlson’s Jew-Hate!

The message is clear. You can’t claim to fight antisemitism while shielding a man who now sounds indistinguishable from the extremists he once claimed to expose.

It’s refreshing to see people with principles still exist in conservative circles. Two long-serving and highly respected members of The Heritage Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Abby Spencer Moffat and Shane McCullar, have stepped down because the organisation refuses to draw a clear line against antisemitism and the growing anti-Israel venom coming from Tucker Carlson.

Abby Spencer Moffat, a board member since 1992 and one of America’s most generous conservative philanthropists, made clear that this wasn’t an easy decision. She said Heritage’s response to recent challenges “reveals a drift from the principles that once defined its leadership.” She added a sharp warning: “When an institution hesitates to confront harmful ideas and allows lapses in judgment to stand, it forfeits the moral authority on which its influence depends.”

Shane McCullar, a successful business leader who originally joined the board to advance “the ideals of America’s Founding,” was equally direct. He said he could no longer stay on a board that hesitates to condemn antisemitism and hatred, or that gives a platform to those who spread them. “No institution that hesitates to condemn antisemitism and hatred, or that gives a platform to those who spread them, can credibly claim to uphold the vision that once made the Heritage Foundation the world’s most respected conservative think tank,” he wrote. He couldn’t remain if the board was “unwilling to confront the lapses in judgment that have harmed its credibility.”

Those lapses all point to one man: Heritage president Kevin Roberts. Instead of distancing the organisation from Tucker Carlson after his softball interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, Roberts rushed to defend him. He called critics of the interview, including Jewish and conservative leaders, a “venomous coalition” and insisted conservatives shouldn’t “cancel” his “close friend.” Even after a half-hearted apology that explained nothing, Roberts has steadfastly refused to criticise Carlson’s increasingly extreme output.

And extreme it is. Carlson now peddles conspiracy theories about Jewish control of banking, media, and Congress. He has pushed outright hatred towards Israel. He has questioned established facts in ways that echo the worst antisemitic tropes. Many suspect this sharp turn coincides neatly with his new financial ties to Qatar, a country that funds anti-Israel propaganda and has every reason to want influential American voices repeating its talking points.

Zionist Organisation of America president Morton Klein has been outspoken. He’s flabbergasted that Heritage has spent almost a million dollars sponsoring Carlson’s podcast, which he describes as “filled with hate and disgusting attacks on Israel.” “Kevin Roberts said nothing about Tucker Carlson,” Klein pointed out. “He didn’t condemn him.” Because of Roberts’s silence, the ZOA has quit Heritage’s National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism.

They aren’t alone. Princeton professor Robert P. George, Stephen Moore, Chris DeMuth, and others have also walked away. The message is clear. You can’t claim to fight antisemitism while shielding a man who now sounds indistinguishable from the extremists he once claimed to expose.

Heritage once stood for serious conservative ideas. Under Kevin Roberts, it’s protecting a broadcaster whose rhetoric harms Jews and undermines support for Israel. Moffat and McCullar have chosen principle over position. One can only hope more follow their lead before the institution’s reputation is damaged beyond repair. When you refuse to call out hatred, especially when it’s dressed up as “just asking questions” and possibly paid for by hostile foreign money, you’ve already lost the moral high ground.