Far-right activist Laura Loomer, a figure well known on the nationalist edge of conservative politics, ignited a storm inside her own movement this week after declaring that the Republican Party “has a Nazi problem.” Her comments, posted Tuesday on X, arrived at a moment when the right is already locked in a fractious and increasingly public fight over extremism, loyalty tests and the boundaries of acceptable speech.
“I’m going to say it. The GOP has a Nazi problem,” Loomer wrote. “And the more we pretend like we don’t, the worse it’s going to get.” In a follow-up post, she rejected the idea that the outrage now roiling the conservative world is simply about Israel policy. “Let’s admit this isn’t about Israel,” she wrote.
Loomer’s blunt assessment comes as conservatives clash over an interview posted by Tucker Carlson featuring white nationalist Nick Fuentes — a figure widely considered toxic even within the MAGA coalition. The interview prompted immediate backlash from Republican lawmakers, conservative donors and longtime strategists who argue that giving Fuentes a platform crosses a line the movement once took seriously.
But instead of de-escalating, the fight metastasized. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts released a video defending Carlson’s decision to host Fuentes and denouncing a “venomous coalition” he claimed was trying to “cancel” the conservative host. The message was intended as a shield for Carlson, who remains one of the most influential voices on the right. Instead, it triggered an internal revolt.
The fallout reached Heritage’s boardroom. Robert George, a conservative legal scholar and one of the organization’s most prominent intellectual voices, resigned this week, saying he could not remain unless the institution fully retracted Roberts’ video. His departure underscored just how deep the fractures have become — not over spending bills or foreign policy, but over whether one of the movement’s flagship institutions should be defending engagement with a figure whose views sit far outside the mainstream.
Roberts later apologized to Heritage staff, calling the video a mistake and acknowledging that his language — particularly the “venomous coalition” remark — was inappropriate. He emphasized that defending Carlson as a friend does not mean endorsing Fuentes or his history of antisemitic rhetoric. But the damage had already been done, and the apology has not smoothed over the divisions.
Former President Donald Trump, who has embraced Carlson as a crucial ally, downplayed the controversy when asked about the interview. “You can’t tell him who to interview,” Trump said. “If he wants to interview Nick Fuentes… get the word out.” He also minimized his own past ties to Fuentes, including the infamous 2022 dinner at Mar-a-Lago with the white nationalist and Kanye West. “I didn’t know he was coming,” Trump said. “Kanye brought him.”
Loomer’s comments landed squarely in the middle of this escalating conflict. For years, Republican leaders have attempted to manage — or at times ignore — the presence of extremist factions within the party’s orbit. Her warning that the GOP is refusing to confront its own ranks may sting precisely because it reflects the messy truth laid bare by the Carlson-Fuentes fight: the right is increasingly divided not just over policy, but over identity, legitimacy and the basic question of who gets to speak for the movement.
