Rep. Randy Fine blasted Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts on Newsmax's "National Report" Friday for praising influencer-turned-Republican-gubernatorial-candidate James Fishback.
Fishback, 31, has attacked the Jewish state, calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "depraved little man" and vowing to divest Florida from Israel Bonds if elected governor.
Fine's criticism follows the resurfacing last week of a December 2024 video in which Roberts praised Fishback during a speech at Mar-a-Lago.
In the clip, Roberts recalled meeting Fishback and telling his own children, "You have to mimic James Fishback's rhetoric," calling it "pristine" and "precise."
He also described Fishback as a "friend" other conservatives should emulate.
"Under Kevin Roberts, Heritage has become an incubator for the Hitler Youth — and I think it is terrible," Fine told Newsmax in response to Roberts' remarks.
"What is particularly bad about this speech is not that he gave it, but that he hasn't repudiated it a year later."
Fine compared Roberts' failure to disavow Fishback to his initial backing of an interview between Tucker Carlson and white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes.
Roberts, who has been under fire for months as Heritage bleeds staff, trustees, fellows, and donors, has also called Carlson a "close friend" and has refused to condemn the podcaster for his repeated antisemitic statements.
"It's important as conservatives that we speak out about the antisemites like Kevin Roberts, James Fishback, and Tucker Carlson," Fine said.
"These sort of grifty scumbags who really seek to destroy the country."
He added that many conservatives were initially misled by Fishback.
"A lot of people were taken in by James Fishback before they realized he's a con artist, a grifter, an antisemite, and a racist," Fine said.
"The fact that Kevin Roberts doesn't repudiate him — doesn't repudiate Tucker — shows how far Heritage has fallen from a lynchpin of the conservative movement to a joke and an embarrassment."
Fine also criticized Fishback's pledge to divest Florida from Israel Bonds, which Fishback claims would free up $385 million for a statewide down-payment assistance program for young married couples.
"In that policy proposal, Israel pays interest on those bonds," Fine said. "So, like a typical liberal, Fishback wants to take money the state is saving and go spend it. That's what liberals do."
Fishback has also targeted fellow Republicans, including Trump-endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds, the current front-runner in Florida's GOP gubernatorial race.
The Republican primary is scheduled for Aug. 18, 2026.
In a post on X, Fishback referred to Donalds, who is Black, as "By'rone," called him a "slave" to donors, and claimed he "wants to turn Florida into a Section 8 ghetto."
Fine dismissed Fishback's campaign as unserious.
"He's a joke," Fine said. "He's polling in the single digits, and he won't go anywhere. I know he's going to get crushed by Byron Donalds."
A Heritage Foundation spokesperson told Newsmax that in the video, Roberts was backing Fishback only "on a policy issue," not his broader views.
"Dr. Roberts' statement at Mar-a-Lago in 2024 was in reference to his belief that DEI practices hurt the American people," the spokesperson said.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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