WASHINGTON—Fox News host Tucker Carlson falsely accused The Heritage Foundation of accepting donations from Big Tech companies on Tuesday’s show. Rob Bluey, vice president of communications at Heritage, asked Fox News and “Tucker Carlson Tonight” to correct the record.
“Tucker Carlson made a mistake when he incorrectly claimed that The Heritage Foundation is funded by Big Tech and displayed a graphic with Heritage’s logo. Fox News and Carlson must correct this error immediately.
“Carlson’s claim is a direct attack on Heritage’s research independence and integrity. It’s also patently false. Heritage President Kay C. James rejected six-figure donations from Facebook and Google in 2020. Her decision prompted other conservative leaders to pledge that they too would refuse Big Tech donations.
“It is unfortunate Carlson and his team didn’t do their homework. There are numerous articles about Heritage’s rejection of Big Tech money—including from News Corp.’s own New York Post—as well as our own press release. Immediately after Tuesday’s show, Heritage shared this information with Carlson and Fox News to set the record straight and request a correction. They have yet to respond.
“Interestingly, Carlson’s guest, Jon Schweppe of the American Principles Project, has previously cited Heritage as a positive example for rejecting Big Tech donations. APP’s website says that ‘The Heritage Foundation has pledged not to accept Big Tech funding since 2020.’ It’s baffling why Carlson would cite APP’s research to attack Heritage and mislead his viewers.
“This isn’t the first time Carlson has made false accusations about Heritage. Rather than engage in a substantive debate, he has chosen instead to make baseless attacks and question our integrity. As we’ve said before, Heritage welcomes the opportunity to discuss and debate this issue with Carlson on his show.
“For nearly 50 years, The Heritage Foundation has represented the interests of the American people based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense. Heritage does not support policies that deviate from these principles, nor are our recommendations ever influenced by donations or outside political pressure.”
