Two prominent conservatives quit the board of the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday as the storied right-wing think tank fights over how to handle antisemitism on the right.
Abby Spencer Moffat, the CEO of the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation who joined Heritage’s board in 1992, and Shane McCullar, a former executive at McDonald’s and Rubbermaid who joined the board last year, said the institution was straying from its founding principals and losing its credibility and moral authority.
“When an institution hesitates to confront harmful ideas and allows lapses in judgment to stand, it forfeits the moral authority on which its influence depends,” Moffat said in a statement. “I cannot remain on a board unwilling or unable to meet this moment with the clarity and courage it requires.”
She was referring to Heritage President Kevin Roberts’s defense of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for interviewing Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist who routinely espouses antisemitic views. Roberts has explained he was trying to appeal to Fuentes’s followers who might be open to adopting Heritage’s world view. After several apologies last month, he said the foundation would cut ties with Carlson, though the podcaster would remain a personal friend.
“No institution that hesitates to condemn antisemitism and hatred — or that gives a platform to those who spread them — can credibly claim to uphold the vision that once made the Heritage Foundation the world’s most respected conservative think tank,” McCullar said in a statement. “And, I cannot, in good conscience, remain on a board that is unwilling to confront the lapses in judgment that have harmed its credibility, its culture, and the conservative movement it once helped shape.”
Their departures follow Princeton professor Robert George, who resigned from the board in November. A Heritage spokesman said it was not clear who would replace them on the board, which is left with 10 members in addition to Roberts.
“We’re grateful to Abby and Shane for their service to Heritage,” Chief Advancement Officer Andy Olivastro said. “We have a responsibility to deliver for the American people, by developing serious ideas, sound policy, and practical solutions that ensure the conservative movement remains a governing majority for generations to come. Our purpose is clear: We exist to save the republic and secure it for future generations.”
Several researchers also left the think tank since the controversy erupted in late October, and an antisemitism task force that the Heritage Foundation convened ended the relationship after Roberts did not accept its recommendations to address the concerns. Roberts demoted his chief of staff who was largely responsible for drafting his first controversial scripted video.
Some conservatives have raised alarms about rising antisemitism on the right. A survey of the Republicans coalition published Dec. 1 by the conservative Manhattan Institute said President Donald Trump has attracted more voters who self-identify as openly racist or antisemitic and express potential support for political violence.
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