Heritage Foundation hits back at Tucker Carlson’s ‘outrageous’ claims

The conservative Heritage Foundation pushed back on Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Saturday after he sharply criticized the organization during a segment on tech policy.

Carlson blasted the foundation and other groups during his show Friday night, arguing that Beltway conservative organizations have “colluded with big tech to shield left-wing monopolies from any oversight.”

In specifically going after Heritage, where Carlson used to work, the host asserted, “As an organization, Heritage no longer represents the interests of conservatives, at least on the question of tech.”

He also criticized one paper from the group, which he alleged “defends the special privileges that Congress has given to left-wing Silicon Valley monopolies.”

The foundation fired back in a statement on Saturday, accusing the television personality of making “several false, outrageous, and unfounded accusations.”

“Rather than engage in a substantive policy debate, he chose instead to make ad hominem attacks and question our integrity. We are disappointed this came from someone whom we admire and respect,” said Heritage Foundation Vice President of Communications Rob Bluey.

He added that Carlson “failed to acknowledge Heritage experts’ consistent criticism of technology companies” and defended the report’s conclusion as “based on the principles that guide all of our policy recommendations.”

The group also said that “Carlson did not contact us in advance of his segment or provide Heritage with an opportunity to respond to his accusations.”

A spokesperson for Fox did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill on Saturday.

The pushback comes amid a broader surge in criticism of major tech companies from figures in both parties.

Some Democrats have called for social media giants to be broken up while urging them to do more to combat hate speech and disinformation on their platforms. Republicans, meanwhile, have accused the companies of censoring conservative speech.