Heritage Foundation Boasts 'Strong and Unified' Team After Mass Resignations Over Tucker Carlson Fallout

The Heritage Foundation has been onboarding 21 new scholars and staffers since last November as the conservative think tank attempts to recover from a mass exodus triggered by its handling of Tucker Carlson's friendly interview with right-wing antisemite Nick Fuentes. The organization is projecting strength and unity, but the departures stripped Heritage of decades of institutional knowledge and exposed a fault line within the conservative movement over the boundaries of acceptable discourse. The rebuilding effort comes as the think tank — which played a central role in Trump's governing agenda through Project 2025 — tries to maintain its influence in Washington while navigating the reputational damage from the Carlson-Fuentes controversy.