Republican lawmakers and Jewish organizations denounced Tucker Carlson, an ally of President Trump, for hosting the outspoken white supremacist Nick Fuentes on his podcast this week, and criticized other conservative figures who defended the interview.
Senators Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell criticized Mr. Carlson, the far-right commentator who served as a top surrogate for Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign and spoke at the party’s national convention last year, for hosting Mr. Fuentes, who is openly antisemitic and had previously dined with Mr. Trump in 2022.
The episode underscored a rift among leading conservatives over associations with incendiary but influential figures on the far right, particularly the growing influence of Mr. Fuentes, as well as the Republican Party’s support for Israel. Mr. Fuentes has criticized the second Trump administration for its solidarity with Israel over the war in Gaza, for refusing to release the Epstein files and for considering student visas for Chinese nationals.
Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, defended Mr. Carlson in a video statement, saying that his critics were “sowing division” and that he would “always be a close friend” to the conservative think tank. The Heritage Foundation has been highly influential in Mr. Trump’s policies and is best known for spearheading Project 2025.
Mr. Carlson had criticized Mr. Cruz by name during the interview, alongside former President George W. Bush and Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, for being “Christian Zionists” who have been “seized by this brain virus.”
“I can just say for myself: I dislike them more than anyone,” Mr. Carlson told Mr. Fuentes.
Mr. Cruz, the chairman of the Senate commerce committee, said in an interview on Wednesday that “anti-Semitism is a longstanding evil that goes back millennia,” adding: “I think it is incumbent of all people of good morals to stand up to it. And to stand up to it whether it is the opposing party or your own party.”
Mr. McConnell, the former Senate Republican leader who has often criticized Mr. Trump and the party’s realignment under his leadership, criticized Mr. Carlson and the Heritage Foundation’s defense of him.
“Last I checked, ‘conservatives should feel no obligation’ to carry water for antisemites and apologists for America-hating autocrats,” Mr. McConnell’s statement said, an apparent reference to Mr. Carlson’s praise of President Vladimir Putin of Russia. “But maybe I just don’t know what time it is …”
Democratic lawmakers also denounced Mr. Carlson, Mr. Fuentes and Mr. Roberts. Senator Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat and the highest-ranking Jewish Democrat, said that the statement from Mr. Roberts was “deeply disturbing” and “an embrace of antisemitism and white supremacist conspiracy theories.”
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish group that advocates against hate speech, denounced both Mr. Fuentes and Mr. Carlson, noting in a statement on social media on Friday that it had previously accused them of spreading racist and antisemitic speech — the group called in 2021 for Mr. Carlson to be fired from Fox News, for example, for his support of the “Great Replacement Theory,” a racist conspiracy theory popular in far-right circles.
“For years, we have catalogued Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes’ antisemitic rhetoric and admonished those who would seek to legitimize them,” the group wrote. “And we deeply appreciate those who have rejected Heritage’s shocking and indefensible defense of this hate — especially conservatives who have spoken out forcefully and unequivocally. This is how we will stop the normalization of antisemitism. Because let’s be clear: When it comes to Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes, it may start with claims of patriotism, but it always seems to end with antisemitism.”
Matt Brooks, the head of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said in a statement to the news site Jewish Insider that he was “appalled, offended and disgusted” that Mr. Roberts and Heritage “would stand with Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes as somehow being acceptable spokespeople within the conservative movement.”
Mr. Trump himself has long used accusations of antisemitism as a cudgel against his political opponents, even as he and his allies echo antisemitic tropes. In July, Mr. Trump invoked the term “shylock” while speaking of untrustworthy moneylenders and then claimed he didn’t know it was antisemitic. During his re-election campaign, Mr. Trump repeatedly said that Jews who vote for Democrats “hate Israel” and “their religion.” At an event just months before the election, ostensibly aimed at denouncing antisemitism in America, Mr. Trump said that “if I don’t win this election,” then “the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr. Carlson’s broadcast and the remarks of Mr. Roberts.
Robert Jimison contributed reporting.
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
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