The Diocese of Tucson announced that prominent Catholic scholar, Professor Robert P. George, resigned from the reviled Heritage Foundation’s board of trustees. He cited the Heritage’s president’s support of Tucker Carlson for promoting a white supremacist.
The Heritage Foundation is the author of Project 2025, carried out by Trump to destroy democracy.
George, a Princeton University professor of jurisprudence who sat on the Heritage board for six years, quit in a Facebook post after reaching an “impasse” with Heritage President Kevin Roberts over the controversy.
Burning through donors and staff
The alt-right Heritage Foundation is like a house on fire, with staff running for the exits and donors backing away. Multiple Heritage employees have resigned in disgust, along with volunteer members of Heritage’s task force on antisemitism, including Mark Goldfeder, CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center.
Former staffers say Roberts is a nightmare boss who created a toxic work environment and disrespected female staff. Insiders describe an “open rebellion,” marked by emotional staff meetings, accusations of extremism, and a climate of distrust and factionalism.
Lobbying work in decline
Turnover at the Heritage Foundation’s lobbying arm led it to spend the least on federal advocacy in 15 years in the third quarter of this year, reports show.
The furor erupted after Roberts posted a nauseating video on Oct. 30 supporting Carlson’s Oct. 27 chummy show with Fuentes, a far-right white nationalist who admires Adolf Hitler and denies the Holocaust. In the video, Roberts called Carlson “a close friend of the Heritage Foundation.”
Prof. George, whose work spans law, philosophy, ethics and religious liberty, said he “could not remain” on the board without a full retraction of Roberts’ video. Tucker Carlson gave a public stage to Nazi-lover Fuentes, who made numerous antisemitic comments.
“As a conservative, I say that there is no place for such people in our movement,” Prof. George wrote in his resignation announcement.
Wave of Resignations
Roberts apologized on Nov. 5 for his video. He told staff, “I made a mistake, and I let you down, and I let down this institution, and I am sorry for that.” However, Roberts refused to retract his original video, leading to Prof. George’s departure.
Roberts claimed he does not endorse Fuentes’ views (wink, wink).
George’s resignation marks the latest in a series of departures from Heritage over the controversy.
- CEO Mark Goldfeder of the National Jewish Advocacy Center.
- Ryan Walker, who was executive vice president until June.
- Long-time scholar Chris DeMuth, a “Distinguished Fellow in American Thought.”
- Stephen Moore quit after a 12-year tenure as a visiting fellow.
Prof. George said he was “sad to be leaving the Heritage board” and expressed hope the foundation would remain “unbending and unflinching” in upholding “the moral principles of the Judeo-Christian tradition” and constitutional principles.
As the saying goes, “Karma is a bitch.” The severe damage to Heritage follows years of spewing hate and promoting authoritarian messages.
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