Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts is standing by Tucker Carlson after the conservative podcaster\u2019s friendly interview with Holocaust-denier Nick Fuentes drew condemnation from within a GOP grappling with a series of antisemitic incidents.<\/p>\n
Roberts, in a video posted to X<\/a> Thursday, denounced the \u201cvenomous coalition\u201d that has criticized Carlson and said \u201ctheir attempt to cancel him will fail,\u201d though he didn\u2019t specifically name anyone. He said Carlson remains a \u201cclose friend\u201d of the highly influential conservative group and \u201calways will be.\u201d<\/p>\n Roberts added that \u201cI disagree with and even abhor things that Nick Fuentes says, but canceling him is not the answer, either.\u201d<\/p>\n Roberts, whose group launched \u201cProject Esther\u201d<\/a> to combat antisemitism, also said \u201cChristians can critique the state of Israel without being antisemitic. And of course, antisemitism should be condemned.\u201d<\/p>\n The Heritage Foundation leader\u2019s public support of Carlson comes as the former Fox News host faces backlash from conservatives over an inflammatory interview with Fuentes that was laced with antisemitism. Carlson said GOP supporters of Israel \u2014 including U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) \u2014 suffer from a \u201cbrain virus,\u201d while Fuentes said the \u201cbig challenge\u201d to unifying the country was \u201corganized Jewry.\u201d<\/p>\n Huckabee, who is set to speak at this weekend\u2019s Republican Jewish Coalition annual leadership conference in Las Vegas, dismissed the criticism.<\/p>\n \u201cWasn\u2019t aware that Tucker despises me. I do get that a lot from people not familiar with the Bible or history. Somehow I will survive this animosity,\u201d Huckabee posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cruz defended Huckabee in his own post<\/a>. The former governor \u201cis a pastor and a patriot who loves America, loves Israel, and loves Jesus. I\u2019m proud to be in his company,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n Roberts and Carlson did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Fuentes could not be reached for comment. <\/p>\n The furor over the Fuentes sitdown comes as Republicans wrestle with how to respond to a string of antisemitic incidents on the right. POLITICO first reported<\/a> two weeks ago on an explosive Telegram group chat in which leaders of various Young Republican groups joked about the Holocaust and lauded Adolf Hitler. A day later, a staffer for Rep. Dave Taylor\u2019s (R-Ohio) joined a virtual meeting with a flag featuring a Nazi symbol<\/a> visible behind him.<\/p>\n And last week, POLITICO reported on<\/a> another group chat in which Paul Ingrassia, then Trump\u2019s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel at the Justice Department, claimed he has \u201ca Nazi streak.\u201d Ingrassia previously appeared at a rally for Fuentes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Several Young Republican chapters<\/a> were dissolved<\/a> and participants in the group chat were fired or resigned<\/a> from their jobs or public office<\/a>. Capitol police investigated the flag in Taylor\u2019s office. Ingrassia withdrew his nomination<\/a> days later amid opposition from within the Senate GOP.<\/p>\n The incidents have broadly divided the GOP. Cruz recently decried what he called \u201cantisemitism rising on the right in a way I have never seen\u2026in my entire life.\u201d Some prominent GOP officials swiftly denounced the racist texts in the Young Republicans group.<\/p>\n But others have followed Vice President JD Vance\u2019s lead in attempting to divert attention onto Democrats<\/a> as one of their candidates, Virginia Attorney General nominee Jay Jones, became engulfed in his own violence-laced texting scandal. And that was before Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner\u2019s tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol forced Democrats to confront antisemitism within their party.<\/p>\n Samuel Benson contributed to this report.<\/p>\n