The GOP Civil War Over Nick Fuentes Has Just Begun

Nick FuentesA white nationalist, known for his deeply anti-Semitic, racist, and misogynist worldview, can only tear apart the Republican Party.

The rift began last Tuesday when the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson The leader of the so-called America First movement published an in-depth interview with Fuentes, who denies the Holocaust, praises Hitler and shares deeply antisocial views.

During the interview, Fuentes made anti-Semitic remarks about the threat apparently posed by “organized Jewry” in America, while Carlson denounced figures like Senator Ted Cruz and former President George W. Bush as “Christian Zionists” who have been “captured by this brain virus.” Carlson, among others, was criticized by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee for giving Fuentes a platform, and the argument went into overdrive after Kevin Roberts became president. Heritage FoundationA high-profile conservative think tank condemned those attacking Carlson as a “toxic coalition”.

“Tucker Carlson remains and always will be a close friend of the Heritage Foundation,” Roberts said in a video posted Thursday on X.

Roberts’ comments, which many saw as a tacit endorsement of Fuentes’ anti-Semitic worldview, sparked a huge divide on the right, with prominent podcasters and influencers to senators and other lawmakers weighing in to attack or defend Roberts and Carlson.

Controversy continued to rage over the weekend as many claimed the situation was a reflection of a perceived wider concern. The rise of antisemitism Within the MAGA movement.

“In the last six months, I’ve seen more anti-Semitism on the right than I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Cruz said at the Republican Jewish Coalition conference in Las Vegas last Thursday, hours after Roberts’ video was released. “If you sit there with someone who says Adolf Hitler was great and their mission is to fight and defeat the Jews worldwide, and you don’t say anything, then you’re a coward and you’re complicit in that evil.”

Senator Mitch McConnell, quoting Roberts’ videoX writes that conservatives “are not obligated to carry water for antisemites and apologists for America-hating dictators.”

“My mother was a heritage board member for 40 years,” John Podhoretz, a conservative political commentator, wrote in X, citing Roberts’ post. “You insulted him, you rancid bastard of an amoeba.” Podhoretz deleted the post on Monday.

Several prominent Republicans, however, came out in support of Roberts.