Conservative thinktank reshuffles its senior leadership as its president attempts to quell growing right-wing unrest over his comments denouncing “venomous” critics of Tucker Carlson and defending the pundit’s interview with white supremacist and Hitler apologist Nicker Fuentes.By World Israel News StaffThe head of a prominent conservative think tank in the US is scrambling to defend controversial comments he made last week on populist pundit Tucker Carlson and white supremacist and Hitler apologist Nick Fuentes.Last Thursday, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts released a video statement in support of Carlson and to reject criticism of the popular podcaster over his decision to host Fuentes last week.During the interview, Carlson denounced Christian supporters of Israel as heretics suffering from a “mind virus,” while Fuentes lamented the “challenge” Christians face in the US from “organized Jewry.”The interview drew criticism from conservatives, including Republican lawmakers, such as Senator Ted Cruz and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, whom Carlson excoriated during his conversation with Fuentes.The backlash against Carlson over the Fuentes interview also included pressure on the Heritage Foundation to cut ties with the 56-year-old former Fox News host.Roberts responded by condemning what he called the “venomous coalition” of “bad actors” who criticized Carlson while serving “someone else’s agenda” and “sowing division.”“That includes Tucker Carlson, who remains, and, as I have said before, always will be, a close friend of the Heritage Foundation.”While Roberts said that he disagrees with “and even abhor[s] things that Nick Fuentes says,” he rejected criticism of Carlson for interviewing Fuentes.The video quickly sparked anger among Republicans and divided the Heritage Foundation itself.Heritage Foundation board member and political philosopher Robert P. George, who also serves as a professor at Princeton University, pushed back on Roberts’ comments, saying they represented a form of conservatism that is “alien” to him.American conservatism, he wrote on X, “simply cannot include or accommodate white supremacists or racists of any type, antisemites, eugenicists, or others whose ideologies are incompatible with belief in the inherent and equal dignity of all.”“As a conservative, I say that there is no place for such people in our movement.”George also took aim at Roberts’ defense of Carlson’s decision to interview Fuentes on the grounds of freedom of speech.“I am—notoriously, for some of my fellow conservatives—committed to the principle of free speech for everybody, including people with whom I profoundly disagree even on the most important issues, indeed, including racists and other bigots. But defending their rights does not mean allying with them, welcoming them into our movement, or treating them as representing legitimate forms of conservatism.”Republican Senator and former Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blasted Roberts’ comments, writing on X that “conservatives should feel no obligation to carry water for antisemites and apologists for America-hating autocrats.”Senator Ted Cruz blasted Carlson and Fuentes, while chiding Roberts for his failure to take a clear stand against either.“If you sit there with someone who says Adolf Hitler was ‘very, very cool’… and you say nothing, then you are a coward and… complicit.”Fuentes, a 26-year-old white supremacist influencer, has in the past called for a Christian “holy war” to “make them [Jews] die” and the establishment of a “Catholic Taliban” regime in the West.He has repeatedly embraced the legacy of Adolf Hitler, whom he called “awesome,” while also denying or minimizing the Holocaust.Amid the firestorm of controversy following the release of his video statement, Roberts attempted to clarify his position, appearing on two popular conservative podcasts, speaking with the RealClearPolitics website, and issuing a written clarification via X.“Yesterday I said that I abhorred views expressed by Nick Fuentes—and that the best way to fight antisemitic ideas was to challenge them head on,” Roberts wrote on Friday.Roberts went on to denounce Fuentes’ “vicious antisemitic ideology, his Holocaust denial, and his relentless conspiracy theories.”“We are disgusted by his musings about rape, women, child marriage, and abusing his potential wife.”However, while Roberts emphasized his rejection of Fuentes, he said nothing about Carlson or the podcaster’s decision to host Fuentes.Conservative activist James Lindsay accused Roberts of failing to address Carlson’s own divisive rhetoric, noting Carlson’s admission of hatred towards Christian Zionists.“To be ‘cancelled’ requires having been invited in first. Nick has never been welcome in the first place, why is he now? Some unthinking pseudo-principle against ‘cancellation’?”“And what about the ‘Venomous Coalition’? Is that Jews and Christian Zionists, or who?”In addition to the media appearances, Roberts announced to Heritage Foundation staffers Friday that the organization was reshuffling some of its senior officials, with Roberts’ chief of staff, Ryan Neuhaus being reassigned to another, unnamed, position.According to a report by the conservative National Review, Neuhaus was removed as chief of staff after he weighed in on the controversy via social media, including reposting a message calling on Heritage Foundation employees who disagreed with Roberts’ video statement to resign immediately.The post Heritage president scrambles amid backlash over comments on Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes appeared first on World Israel News.