An Evangelical Christian Zionist activist and founder of Proclaiming Justice to The Nations (PJTN), resigned on Thursday from the Heritage Foundation’s National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, citing the think tank’s defense of Tucker Carlson after his interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes. In a statement on Wednesday, Laurie Cardoza-Moore, said she would “stand down” unless Heritage “cut all ties with antisemites.”
“I proudly accepted the invitation to serve on the Heritage Foundation’s Task Force as a tool to fight Jew hatred, but I am being forced to stand down, unless they draw a clear line in the sand,” she said in a statement, adding that isolationist-conservative journalist “Tucker Carlson has rejected all the Hebrew roots of our Faith and Nation and replaced them with an ignorant populist philosophy.”
Cardoza-Moore also said, “As I have told Tucker in person and publicly, he is a dangerous antisemite, who endangers the lives of Jews worldwide by pushing lies to millions. The Heritage Foundation has built itself as a moral compass for American politics. It is high time that the Organization disavow Tucker and the Woke Right and encourage the Vice President to follow suit. One cannot fight antisemitism while also fanning the flames.”
Her resignation followed days of backlash over Carlson’s podcast appearance with Fuentes, who has promoted Holocaust denial and made antisemitic remarks. Heritage president Kevin Roberts defended Carlson in an Oct. 30 video, rejecting “cancel culture” while saying he abhorred Fuentes’s views, according to Politico.
The controversy has spilled across the conservative movement. Major Republicans criticized Carlson’s decision to host Fuentes, while Roberts later issued additional comments denouncing antisemitism as Heritage staff and allies publicly expressed concern.
Cardoza-Moore’s break with Heritage comes after previous public friction with Carlson. In June, The Jerusalem Post reported that Carlson urged Cardoza-Moore to apologize after she called him an antisemite in an op-ed.
Heritage launched the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism in November 2023 and has promoted a playbook known as “Project Esther.” In the wake of the Carlson-Fuentes episode, at least some Jewish organizations have distanced themselves from Heritage’s antisemitism initiative, the Times of Israel reported.
Cardoza-Moore is also host of the television program Focus on Israel. PJTN has campaigned against antisemitism in education and on US campuses.