Regrets, Kevin Roberts has a few.

The president of the Heritage Foundation stepped into a maelstrom when he came to the defense of Tucker Carlson this week after Carlson's friendly interview with Nick Fuentes, the 26-year-old white nationalist popular on the far right for his avowedly antisemitic views. It started with a video Roberts posted to X.

“Not as many people as I thought,” he told RealClearPolitics in a Saturday interview, “were ready for a little bit of nuance.”

Roberts told RCP that the backlash has further clarified something that he already believed, namely that antisemitism has become “a much more pronounced problem on part of the right.” He said Heritage will redouble its efforts to root it out, even if some conservatives vehemently disagree with his approach.

The controversy has already rocked Heritage, sown dissension among the ranks internally, and raised questions about the institution’s status as the preeminent conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. In the last 48 hours, Roberts has repeatedly sought to clarify exactly what he meant, fielded calls from concerned allies and donors, and removed his longtime chief of staff, Ryan Neuhaus, from the position.

The comments that ignited a firestorm came Thursday and lasted less than three minutes. Roberts rejected online speculation that Heritage was distancing itself from Carlson, saying that the popular former Fox News host remains a “close friend.” Addressing the ongoing debate over U.S. policy toward Israel, he argued that conservatives are under “no obligation to reflexively support any foreign government,” adding also that Christians can critique actions of that nation “without being antisemitic.”

But then Roberts, who launched “Project Esther” specifically to combat antisemitism, said........

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