The Heritage Foundation helped elect Donald Trump twice.
But some people at Heritage never wanted that fight in the first place.
And three establishment board members just showed their true colors by abandoning the Heritage Foundation.
Princeton professor Robert George resigned from Heritage's board in November. This week, two more trustees followed him out the door—Shane McCullar and Abby Spencer Moffat.
All three claimed they were leaving over Heritage's "failure to condemn antisemitism."
That's establishment-speak for "we're mad Heritage wouldn't cancel Tucker Carlson fast enough."
The Heritage Foundation spent decades as the backbone of conservative policy making. Reagan implemented more than 60% of Heritage recommendations in his first term. Trump used Heritage's blueprint during his first administration.
Heritage president Kevin Roberts took the organization in a more aggressive, populist direction. Project 2025—Heritage's detailed policy blueprint—terrified Democrats during the 2024 election precisely because it's designed to actually USE presidential power instead of making excuses about "norms."
That's when the establishment started looking for an exit.
Tucker Carlson interview gives establishment the excuse they needed
Tucker Carlson interviewed Nick Fuentes on his podcast in late October.
The usual suspects, wolves in sheep's clothing like Ben Shapiro and Senator Ted Cruz, fumed accusing Tucker of promoting antisemitism and demanding Heritage immediately disavow Carlson.
Roberts refused to throw Tucker under the bus.
"The Heritage Foundation didn't become the intellectual backbone of the conservative movement by canceling our own people or policing the consciences of Christians, and we won't start doing that now," Roberts declared in a video statement.¹
That's when George, McCullar, and Moffat decided they'd had enough of Heritage actually fighting.
McCullar released a resignation statement dripping with establishment pieties about "moral authority" and "credibility."
"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 wrote.²
Translation: Heritage should have immediately cancelled Tucker Carlson to maintain respectability with the people who hate us anyway.
Moffat's statement hit the same notes about Heritage's "drift from the principles that once defined its leadership."³
What principles? Losing gracefully? Writing policy papers nobody implements? Maintaining invitations to Georgetown cocktail parties?
These board members represent exactly the type of conservative that got us into this mess.
The real issue is how Never Trumpers and America Lasters got on staff
When Roberts addressed staff concerns at an all-staff meeting, these employees savaged him for defending Carlson.
Senior legal fellow Amy Swearer told Roberts she had "no confidence in your leadership" because he wouldn't immediately cancel Tucker.⁴
Another senior fellow, Rachel Greszler, said "I do not believe that you are the right person to lead the Heritage Foundation."⁵
Robert Rector, who's been at Heritage for 47 years, lectured Roberts about William F. Buckley Jr. expelling enemies he similarly claimed were "antisemites" and "lunatics" from the establishment in the 1960s.⁶
Rector apparently forgot that Buckley purged conservatives who wanted to actually fight the Left instead of losing gracefully while writing essays about "classical liberalism."
These Heritage staffers sound like they belong at the Bulwark, not a conservative think tank.
The fact that Roberts faced this kind of internal revolt for refusing to immediately cancel Tucker Carlson shows how deeply the America Last rot runs.
George is a Princeton professor—exactly the type of credentialed so-called conservative who thinks Mitt Romney represented the future of the movement. McCullar and Moffat talk about "moral authority" while Democrats weaponize the FBI against parents at school board meetings.
These are people horrified that the conservative base actually wants fighters instead of surrender artists.
Good riddance to establishment dead weight
The three board resignations aren't a crisis for Heritage. They're addition by subtraction.
Heritage doesn't need board members who bail at the first sign of controversy. The Right has enough of those already.
Project 2025 represents Heritage's most aggressive policy blueprint ever. It's designed to dismantle the administrative state and use presidential power the way the Left does.
These resignations reveal the real battle: America First conservatives who want to win versus a small circle of elites who want to maintain so-called respectability by pushing America last policies that will ensure the Right loses again without ever seeing real lasting changes.
Roberts defended Tucker Carlson. That's what Heritage board members should have done too. Instead, three of them ran for the exits claiming "moral authority" required abandoning Heritage during a fight.
The conservative movement has to stop taking any of these people seriously if it ever wants to truly better the country.
¹ Kevin Roberts video statement, October 30, 2025.
² Shane McCullar resignation statement, Mediaite, December 17, 2025.
³ Abby Spencer Moffat resignation statement, Mediaite, December 17, 2025.
⁴ Amy Swearer, Heritage Foundation all-staff meeting, November 6, 2025.
⁵ Rachel Greszler, Heritage Foundation all-staff meeting, November 6, 2025.
⁶ Robert Rector, Heritage Foundation all-staff meeting, November 6, 2025.
