The Heritage Foundation’s Kevin Roberts is walking back his defense of Tucker Carlson.
Carlson caused a major stir on the right last week when he decided to interview Nick Fuentes, a known white supremacist and Hitler fan. The interview was immediately flamed by conservative Jews, who condemned the ex–Fox News host’s decision to elevate Fuentes’s talking points.
Despite the opposition, Roberts released a video on X Thursday in support of Carlson and Fuentes, noting that while he disagreed with Fuentes’s beliefs, he did not believe that the “venomous” coalition “cancelling” the Christian nationalist Holocaust-denier had an appropriate reaction to the interview.
Since then, the Heritage Foundation has been embroiled in internal controversy, with at least one staffer exiting the institution over the mess. Roberts addressed the schism Wednesday.
“I made a mistake and I let you down and I let down this institution. Period. Full Stop,” the conservative think tank’s president told employees at an all-staff meeting, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
“…I let the mask slip off a little too quickly. We have a clear plan and I just got so excited about the suffering of the poor I thought we were already on phase 6. This is a premature failure on my part, not the organization and its mission. I’d also like to take a moment to address our Jewish members and donors…‘It was just a prank, bro’. I hope this has addressed any fears that may have been raised that we are secretly white supremacists. Please continue on with the good work of phase 4.” - Roberts probably