Former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., told Newsmax on Monday that Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts “missed it” in defending Tucker Carlson’s interview with Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, arguing that Roberts failed to recognize the real issue — giving an unchallenged platform to antisemitic views.
Santorum, Newsmax’s senior political analyst, told “Rob Schmitt Tonight” that Roberts’ point about resisting “cancel culture” was valid, but misplaced.
“Kevin, in my mind, just sort of missed it a little bit,” Santorum said. “Because I don’t think, at least most of the people out there that I’m talking to, are not talking about canceling Nick Fuentes. And that wasn’t really the issue. The issue was Tucker Carlson platforming and lifting [Fuentes] up.”
Roberts, who heads the influential conservative think tank, defended Carlson last week after backlash over a nearly two-hour interview with Fuentes, saying the right should resist calls to “cancel” anyone, even those with controversial views.
Santorum said that argument overlooked the moral responsibility of influential media figures.
At the same time, he said, we shouldn’t be “platforming them and lifting them up. Particularly if you’re going to lift them up and do what Tucker did, which is a pretty softball interview for almost two hours and sort of let him do whatever he wanted to do without really going after all the things that Fuentes has done and said and is.”
Santorum added that Carlson’s recent comments dismissing “Christian Zionists” misunderstood the faith-based support many Christians have for Israel.
“Most Christians who support Israel don’t support it for that [dispensationalist] reason,” Santorum said, referring to the belief that biblical Israel retains a divine covenant extending through the modern era. “They support it because we believe the Jews should have a homeland to protect itself from another Holocaust.
“We think that Israel is an ally in the region against radical Islam, which populates that area. There’s lots of reasons to support Israel other than some, you know, part of Christianity that’s called dispensationalism.”
Fuentes in a 2019 video used an analogy involving the Cookie Monster baking batches of cookies to question the murder of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust, telling his audience the number “just doesn’t make sense” to him. Carlson’s decision to interview Fuentes was condemned by Jewish organizations and conservative leaders.
“The reality is,” Santorum said, “attacking Christians who support Israel is not the same as challenging theological differences — it’s something far more dangerous.”
GET TODAY :
is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!
Reuters Institute reports is one of the top news brands in the U.S.
You need to watch today.
Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!
Find the channel on your cable system –
Sign up for and get , our streaming channel and our military channel World at War.
Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.
Even get Jon Voight’s special series and President Trump’s comedy programs and much more!
Watch on your smartphone or home TV app.
Watch anytime, anywhere!
Start your now:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
