Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson, and the GOP’s Moral Collapse

Heritage Foundation’s response shows the racist far right isn’t knocking at the door of the GOP—it’s already inside.

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A ruthless ideological crisis is tearing through the Republican Party right now, and it’s far more than a simple squabble over podcasts or guest-lists. The recent interview by Tucker Carlson with Nick Fuentes—a known white nationalist and Holocaust denier—was the match that lit a fire. In the interview, Fuentes attacked “organized Jewry,” praised Stalin, and openly embraced ethno-Christian nationalism. What makes the moment explosive is how the conservative establishment responded. Heritage Foundation President Kevin D. Roberts defended Carlson—and by extension allowed the platforming of Fuentes—calling Carlson a “close friend” and dismissing calls to distance the organization. Many Republican senators—including Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell—publicly condemned the move.

Over the years I’ve witnessed how these fringe forces—white-Christian nationalist absolutism, conspiracy-driven grievance politics, the outer edges of the conservative movement—have lingered there, mostly ignored or dismissed. I saw it in student group chats, in self-organized “internet right” pods, in closed seminars where the rhetoric grew sharper and more unapologetic. At the time I hopeful they’d stay outside the mainstream. But increasingly those same voices found corridors into the power structures. This week’s eruption is proof that the corridors aren’t sealed anymore—they’ve been opened.

It matters because the GOP is not just shaky on this question—it is already deeply down the path of authoritarian, illiberal logic. The idea of “We the people” is being replaced by “We the righteous, Christian, native-born.” The guardrails of pluralism, minority rights, checks and balances—once core to conservative governance—are being swallowed by a fusion of grievance, identity politics, and consolidation of power. That Roberts and the Heritage Foundation could defend a platform for Fuentes signals mainstreaming of what used to be fringe. And when mainstream institutions stop treating those ideologies as fringe, the normalization process is underway.

This is a civil war of sorts—though one side isn’t quietly fading. One side of the party remains somewhat a shadow of the old party, faintly. The other side is aggressively opportunistic: embracing identity politics of a different flavor, embracing authoritarian impulses, celebrating grievance, and treating democracy as transactional. The fact that the Heritage leadership, in a major conservative institution, shrugged at antisemitism and white-Christian nationalist ideology shows how far the second side has come.

The racial, religious and cultural fears that once lurked on the margins now seem capable of finding a home. It may not be everywhere yet, but it’s clear the home-search ended up with a generous lease. When a major conservative think tank defends a speaker platforming a neo-Nazi figure, the message is unmistakable: the cost of embracing, or at least tolerating, those views has shrunk. I don’t believe this means every Republican is on board. But I believe the movement is now complicit if it does nothing.

There is still a narrow window to reverse course—but it’s closing fast. If leadership forces genuine consequences—cutting ties, refusing to give platforms to extremists, reasserting pluralist values—there’s a chance to reclaim a version of the party that resists the drift. Not the old GOP, but a less than nazi one. But the odds are stacked. Too much has already shifted. I hope the forces of decency, inclusion, democratic resilience prevail. I want to see a conservative movement that honors the rule of law again, protects minorities finally, supports dissent, and rejects ethno-religious majoritarianism. Yet I’m not holding my breath. The path ahead leads deeper into illiberal territory than most are ready to acknowledge—and unless something breaks, the consequences will be severe for our democracy.

I’m not naive. I’m not rooting for Republican victories, they’ve lost the right to govern in my eyes. I just hope for the sake of our country, those who support authoritarianism (all of em) at least push back against outright Nazi-ism.

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