The Heritage Foundation Tucker Carlson resignations began in early November 2025 and continued through December, after Heritage president Kevin Roberts posted a video defending Carlson’s unchallenging interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes. At least four board members, a longtime senior fellow, the leaders of Heritage’s antisemitism task force, and more than a dozen staff left the organization over the following weeks. Roberts himself stayed on.
What Set Off the Departures
On October 27, 2025, Tucker Carlson published a lengthy, friendly interview with Nick Fuentes, who has a documented history of Holocaust denial and white supremacist rhetoric.1Anti-Defamation League. Nicholas J. Fuentes: Five Things to Know Three days later, Roberts posted a video on X calling Carlson a “close friend of the Heritage Foundation” and denouncing a “venomous coalition” he said was trying to silence both Carlson and Fuentes. Roberts said he “abhor[red]” some of Fuentes’s views but argued that “canceling him is not the answer, either.”2Politico. Heritage Tucker Carlson Nick Fuentes
Roberts apologized on October 31 and again at an all-hands staff meeting on November 5, calling his “venomous coalition” phrasing “a terrible choice of words” and denouncing Fuentes’s “vicious antisemitic ideology.”3CBS News. Heritage Foundation Kevin Roberts Tucker Carlson Interview Nick Fuentes He did not, however, issue a full retraction of the video. That gap between apology and retraction is the reason most departing figures gave for leaving.
Board Members Who Resigned
Robert P. George
Robert P. George, a Princeton jurisprudence professor who had served on Heritage’s board of trustees since 2019, resigned on November 17, 2025. In a Facebook post announcing his departure, George said he had demanded a “full retraction” of the October 30 video and that Roberts could not provide one. “Although Kevin publicly apologized for some of what he said in the video, he could not offer a full retraction of its content. So, we reached an impasse,” he wrote.4Politico. Heritage Resigns Robert George Tucker While calling Roberts “a good man” who had made a “serious mistake,” George argued the conservative movement “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.”5OSV News. Catholic Scholar Quits Heritage Over Its President’s Defense of Tucker Carlson Interview
Abby Spencer Moffat and Shane McCullar
On December 16, 2025, two more trustees resigned together: Abby Spencer Moffat and Shane McCullar. In a joint statement to the New York Times, they said Heritage was “straying from its founding principles and losing its credibility and moral authority.”6The Washington Post. Heritage Antisemitism Controversy Board Members
Moffat’s departure carried financial weight beyond the seat itself. She is chief executive of the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, which had contributed more than $12 million to Heritage since 2019 and pledged a five-year, $25 million gift in 2023.7The New York Times. Heritage Foundation Trustees Resign Tucker Carlson McCullar, a former executive at McDonald’s and Rubbermaid who had joined the board in 2024, said “no institution that hesitates to condemn antisemitism and hatred… can credibly claim to uphold the vision that once made the Heritage Foundation the world’s most respected conservative think tank.”8The Hill. Heritage Foundation Board Resignations
Senior Fellows and Scholars Who Left
Stephen Moore
Stephen Moore, an economist and Trump adviser, resigned on November 6, 2025, after twelve years as a senior visiting fellow. His public statement pointed to a desire to focus on his own group, the Committee to Unleash Prosperity.9Washington Examiner. Trump Adviser Steve Moore Resigns Heritage Foundation The New York Post reported that donors to that group had asked him to leave Heritage over the controversy. Moore’s wife, Anne Moore, posted publicly that “when you fail to do the right thing in the first place from such a place of privilege, you don’t get a second chance.”10New York Post. Ex-Trump Adviser Stephen Moore Quits Heritage Foundation
The National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism
At least four leaders of Heritage’s National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, an initiative tied to the foundation’s “Project Esther,” announced they were leaving to continue the work independently. In an email, they said it was “important for us to continue the work of the N.T.F.C.A. outside the Heritage Foundation for a season.”11The New York Times. Heritage Foundation Antisemitism Task Force
The Staff Exodus to Advancing American Freedom
In late December 2025, more than a dozen Heritage employees left over a single weekend, and many joined Advancing American Freedom (AAF), the think tank founded by former Vice President Mike Pence. The departures included the leaders of Heritage’s legal, economic, and data teams.12Axios. Heritage Staff Defect Mike Pence Project 2025
Pence attributed the moves to Heritage becoming “willing to tolerate antisemitism,” supporting “some tariffs,” and embracing “some elements of isolationism” on the Ukraine-Russia war. A Heritage spokesperson disputed that framing, telling Axios that some staff had been “terminated for conduct inconsistent with Heritage’s mission and standards” and describing others as having chosen “a different path — some through disruption, others through disloyalty.”12Axios. Heritage Staff Defect Mike Pence Project 2025 An AAF spokesperson said additional Heritage staff might follow in the coming weeks. Reason reported that AAF had raised more than $10 million in a matter of weeks to absorb the new hires, and that Moffat was “not the only one” to withdraw donor funding.13Reason. Heritage Foundation Undergoes Mass Staff Exodus as Cracks Open on the New Right
One Firing From the Inside
Roberts’s former chief of staff, Ryan Neuhaus, did not resign but was pushed out. Roberts told staff that Neuhaus “had the pen” on the October 30 video script and had led him to believe it had been vetted.14Washington Free Beacon. Heritage Foundation President Apologizes to Staff for Video Neuhaus was reassigned to Heritage’s housing department, described by sources as “the Siberia of Heritage,” and was later fired.15Global Extremism. Heritage Lost
Who Did Not Resign: Kevin Roberts
Despite the board losses, staff walkouts, donor withdrawals, and calls from Heritage employees for his resignation at the November 5 staff meeting, Kevin Roberts has remained president of the Heritage Foundation. He continues in the role he has held since October 2021 and also leads Heritage Action, the foundation’s political advocacy arm.16The Heritage Foundation. Kevin D. Roberts, PhD No formal board action to remove him has been reported. A Heritage spokesperson told The Hill that “under the leadership of Dr. Roberts, Heritage remains resolute… We are strong, growing, and more determined than ever to fight for our Republic.”17The Hill. Heritage Foundation Board Resignation
The organization has not formally distanced itself from Tucker Carlson. Roberts apologized for his phrasing and fired the chief of staff who wrote the video script, but he maintained what he called a “limiting principle” against “canceling” friends and declined to issue the full retraction departing trustees had demanded.17The Hill. Heritage Foundation Board Resignation