A little over a week ago, Tucker Carlson invited Nick Fuentes to a cozy discussion in his podcasting barn to talk about Fuentes’ rise to power, decry what porn’s doing to the manosphere, and criticize America’s relationship with Israel. (Carlson also apologized for that time he called Fuentes a “weird little gay kid.”) The two-hour interview, however, was nowhere near as interesting as what followed.
In the days since the episode aired on October 27, the GOP’s been at war with itself and struggling to decide whether to condemn Carlson, Fuentes, both, or neither, if at all. (To platform Fuentes is to platform someone who called Hitler “awesome,” who said he doesn’t want to live around Black people, and who referred to JD Vance as a “fat guy who’s married to a jeet.” But Trump hosted Fuentes and Kanye West for dinner at Mar-a-Lago in 2022, and notably, Carlson is also a piece of shit.)
Speaking at a Republican Jewish Coalition event a few days after the episode aired, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said, “If you sit there with someone who says Adolf Hitler was very cool and that their mission is to defeat ‘global Jewry,’ and you say nothing, then you are a coward, and you are complicit in that evil.” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) agreed with Cruz’s remarks on CBS, adding, “I’ve had a long-standing feud with Tucker Carlson. I’m glad everyone else is also waking up now to how bad of a person he is.” In 2022, Carlson called him “Eyepatch McCain,” and last February, Crenshaw was caught on a hot mic saying he’ll “fucking kill” Carson.
every single conservative commentator complaining about the rise of nick fuentes is responsible for the rise of nick fuentes
One of the biggest fallouts, however, has been at the Heritage Foundation, the organization behind Project 2025—that fascist manifesto that lays out how the GOP can ban abortion, which Trump once swore he knew nothing about. In response to the alleged tumult the interview is causing at the far-right think tank, President Kevin Roberts added fuel to the fire when he made his own (surprising) statement. “Christians can critique the state of Israel without being antisemitic,” he tweeted in a video message, adding that Carlson was a close friend of the organization, and that “canceling” Fuentes “is not the answer.”
Of course, this was not well received. One day after Roberts released his statement, his chief of staff stepped down, and at least five members of the organization’s antisemitism task force resigned. Multiple politicians from both ends of the aisle denounced the statement, including Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Sen. Cruz, and in a response tweet, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.) wrote, “Last I checked, ‘conservatives should feel no obligation’ to carry water for antisemites and apologists for America-hating autocrats.” Right-wing media personality Ben Shapiro dedicated his entire show on Monday to the situation, calling Carlson the “most virulent superspreader of vile ideas” in America. “The issue here isn’t that Tucker Carlson had Nick Fuentes on his show last week…The issue here is that Tucker Carlson decided to normalize and fluff Nick Fuentes and that the Heritage Foundation then decided to robustly defend that performance.”
Multiple Heritage staffers have also been disclosing their grievances, with one senior staffer telling CNN that Roberts has “lost total control” of the organization, and that things are now “an absolute shitshow.” “It is open rebellion, it is disgust…85% are totally disgusted,” they said. Another told the Hill, “Nick Fuentes is a disgusting, anti-American, antisemitic loser…Conservatives should pray he gets the help he needs, not give him even an inch of space in our movement.”
Carlson went on Megyn Kelly’s show on Thursday to respond to anyone pissed about his interview, “You know, do your own interview the way that you want to do it. You’re not my editor. Buzz off.”
It’s a real problem if your party has a wing that doesn’t think Hitler sucks.
Also at the Republican Jewish Coalition event in Las Vegas, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) proudly touted he’s “in the ‘Hitler sucks’ wing of the Republican Party,” (good for him!) and Matt Brooks, the coalition’s executive director, acknowledged that the “Hitler is cool” wing of the Republican Party is far from being a new phenomenon. So glad they’re only calling it out now.
It seems Fuentes and Carlson are doing what the Epstein files and racist group chats have so far been unable to do: actually splinter the GOP. I’m no political analyst… but if your party’s torn between two wings of “Hitler sucks” and “Hitler is cool,” then maybe it’s your party that’s the problem.
