The Nexus Newsletter: Watchdog Edition
Tucker Carlson gave a Hitler-praising Holocaust denier two hours of unchallenged airtime this week. The Heritage Foundation, the same institution behind Project 2025and Project Esther, defended it.
This is what mainstreaming antisemitism looks like.
On October 30, Carlson released a two-hour conversation with Nick Fuentes, one of the most virulent antisemites in America. The exchange wasn’t a debate; it was an embrace.
Fuentes claimed that “organized Jewry in America” controls politics and media. He called himself “a fan of Stalin,” mocked Holocaust remembrance, and declared that America must become a “Catholic autocracy.” Carlson smiled, called him “enormously talented,” and agreed that “Christian Zionists” like George W. Bush and Ted Cruz suffer from a “brain virus.”
Later, Fuentes released a follow-up video urging followers to “end Jewish oligarchy” and “reject the Holocaust religion and propaganda.”
Carlson’s tone throughout was cordial. The message was clear: hate is welcome at the table.
Fuentes isn’t an edgy commentator. He’s a violent antisemite who organizes harassment campaigns and glorifies genocidal ideology.
Praised Adolf Hitler and mocked the Holocaust, calling gas chambers “a hoax.”
Declared a “holy war against Jews,” describing them as the “Synagogue of Satan.”
Led online mobs through his Groyper movement, doxxing Jewish journalists, activists, and students.
Called democracy “a Jewish lie” and diversity “a plot to destroy white Christian civilization.”
This is the man Carlson chose to legitimize.
Carlson’s career has been a steady progression toward this moment.
Spent years amplifying the Great Replacement conspiracy, which has inspired multiple antisemitic mass shootings.
Obsessed over George Soros, portraying him as a hidden hand manipulating governments.
Gave sympathetic coverage to Kanye West after his antisemitic rants, editing out the worst parts.
Carlson didn’t stumble into extremism. He built an audience for it.
After the interview, Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts defended Carlson, calling his critics a “venomous coalition” and insisting that “canceling Fuentes is not the answer.”
(Heritage has long tried to reframe antisemitism through Project Esther, turning it from a moral issue into a political weapon. Our project, The Shofar Report, was written to model the alternative: confronting antisemitism honestly, without distortion or agenda.)
The response to Roberts’s comments showed how far Heritage has strayed. Senior staff resigned, partners withdrew, and Jewish leaders publicly condemned the foundation for treating Holocaust denial as a matter of debate.
What began as an effort to control the definition of antisemitism has collapsed into proof of how easily it can be betrayed.
We’ve been tracking the rise of Nick Fuentes and the normalization of his antisemitism for more than a year:
Fuentes and Carlson — August 2024: Our thread documenting how Carlson’s rhetoric overlaps with Fuentes and other far-right figures, from Great Replacement conspiracies to shared anti-Israel framing. Read it here.
Far-Right Exploitation of Pro-Palestinian Activism — July 2024: Our investigation showing how neo-Nazis and white nationalists, including Fuentes, co-opt pro-Palestinian activism to spread antisemitism online. Read it here.
Fuentes’s Network — July 2024: Our report on Fuentes’s alliance with J.D. Vance and Marjorie Taylor Greene, and how those relationships have helped mainstream antisemitic ideas.Read it here.
These archives provide the context for this week’s events…and the proof that the danger has been building for years.
Alabama: Jeremy Wayne Shoemaker, 33, arrested with body armor and a suitcase of ammunition after threatening multiple synagogues.
Michigan: A man kicked the door of the University of Michigan’s Jewish Resource Center while yelling antisemitic slurs.
Illinois: Teens attacked Jewish children in a Skokie park using slurs and gel-pellet guns; police classified it as a hate crime.
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We’ll continue offering clear responses, frameworks, and resources as these stories develop.
