Former Rep. Pete King is calling for Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts to resign immediately, blasting the organization’s shocking failure to condemn antisemitism promoted by Tucker Carlson.
“I definitely think he should resign,” King, a former Republican lawmaker from New York, told Newsmax.
“There is no room in the political arena for supporting or enabling any views that are pro-Hitler or antisemitic.”
In a fiery Facebook post this past weekend, King said Republicans must “denounce and sever all connections with Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson.”
He said Fuentes is “a virulent racist and antisemite who admires Adolf Hitler” and Carlson is “an antisemite who argues that Winston Churchill, not Adolf Hitler, was responsible for World War II.”
“These views are disgraceful, immoral and ignorant,” King, the former chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, wrote.
“There is no place in the Republican Party or President [Donald] Trump’s MAGA movement for these abhorrent views or anyone who espouses or enables them.”
He added, “All Republicans must do what is right and purge all traces of racism and antisemitism.”
The controversy exploded after Roberts publicly defended Carlson, calling him a “close personal friend” despite the broadcaster’s history of antisemitic rhetoric.
Carlson has suggested Jews “killed Jesus,” claimed Israel “controls” U.S. policy, and given airtime to conspiracy theories blaming Jews for 9/11.
King said Roberts’ refusal to take a moral stand disqualifies him from leading the nation’s most influential conservative think tank.
“The America First movement was once discredited for tolerating Nazi sympathizers,” he said. “We cannot let that happen again.”
Roberts later called posting his defense video a “mistake” but has steadfastly refused to denounce Carlson.
His silence triggered an internal revolt at Heritage, where employees demanded accountability during a tense two-hour town hall.
Staff accused Roberts of “running cover for the most unhinged dregs of the far right.”
One longtime scholar, Robert Rector, confronted Roberts directly over Carlson, saying: “He adores Hitler and says he was a f***in’ cool guy. Do we want him in the conservative movement?”
Another Heritage staffer told Roberts bluntly, “We, as an organization, have been unable to utter the words: Tucker Carlson is an antisemite.”
Former Minnesota GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann, who resigned from Heritage’s Antisemitism Task Force last week, said Roberts’ actions were indefensible.
“Inexplicably, consistent voices of antisemitism on the political right were embraced and, worse, defended by the leadership of Heritage Foundation,” she said.
Bachmann warned that Heritage Trustees’ failure to act on Roberts could permanently damage the once-revered conservative institution.
“Something has clearly gone wrong within the leadership of Heritage,” she said.
The fallout inside Heritage has already been severe.
Senior fellows Stephen Moore and Chris DeMuth have quit the think tank along with nearly a dozen Jewish and Christian leaders tied to Heritage’s National Task Force Combating Antisemitism.
Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, said major donors are cutting off Heritage, predicting millions in lost support.
Klein has also called on Roberts to resign.
With donors fleeing, staff in revolt, and conservative leaders demanding accountability, the once-proud Heritage Foundation now faces a crisis of legitimacy.
As Bachmann put it, “Unless the board acts swiftly, there may be nothing to save.”
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