Backlash at AEI for Listing TikTok as a Sponsor

Here is more from Politico:

WHOOPS: The American Enterprise Institute apologized on Tuesday amid backlash for listing TikTok as a sponsor of the think tank’s annual gala on Monday. “While TikTok did purchase two seats at the 1,000+-person dinner, listing them as a sponsor created the impression that they are a part of the AEI community. They are not,” AEI President Robert Doar said in a blog post. He added that the center-right think tank had refunded the $1,500 cost of TikTok’s two seats.

— The controversy shows that even as Trump has repeatedly delayed the implementation of a bill that would ban the Chinese-owned app — on which he now has an account — China hawks on the right aren’t falling in line with the president.

— “Our scholars have been at the forefront of alerting the Congress, the executive branch, and the American public to the dangers of Chinese influence operations and espionage through TikTok,” Doar noted, and AEI “will continue to do so, without fear or favor.”

 

The National Review noted that AEI's listing TikTok as a gala sponsor drew additional scrutiny when Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Sobolik shared a critical post about it on social media.

Other sponsors of the event included News Corp, JPMorganChase, Lockheed Martin, Exxon Mobil, Google, KPMG, Meta, PhRMA, Liberty Mutual Insurance, United Airlines, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, and John Templeton Foundation, among others. 

Larry Summers Axed From Think Tank Roles

Here is more from the New York Times:

Larry Summers, Harvard’s former president and a former Treasury secretary, said Monday that he would be stepping back from public commitments following the release of emails between him and Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender. 

The Yale Budget Lab said Mr. Summers has indicated he would be withdrawing from his role in its advisory group. The Hamilton Project, an economics policy arm of the Brookings Institution, said the same. A spokeswoman for the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank, said Mr. Summers would be ending his fellowship there immediately. The Center for Global Development, another think tank, said Mr. Summers was stepping down as board chair.  

 

Summers was the one of the leads of the economic policy plank of CAP's so-called Project 2029, a Democratic policy blueprint for the 2028 presidential elections.

Think Tank Quickies (#525)

• The seven think tanks reshaping America. 
• Foreign agents look to influence think tanks in Trump's Washington. 
• Australian think tank Lowy Institute proposes new intelligence-sharing alliance: "Pacific Eyes."
• Book trilogy promotes construction of new think tanks with Chinese characteristics. 
• Will left-leaning think tanks to be investigated by the Trump Administration? 
• The Chronicle of Philanthropy: What we know and don't know about the nonprofit layoff crisis. 
• Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, director of the Hoover Institution, is launching a Substack venture from Hoover, "Freedom Frequency: A New Chapter for Ideas Advancing Freedom."
• The Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) hosted its leadership awards dinner at the Conrad Washington, where Howard Buffett and others were honored. 
• Center for Asia Pacific Strategy (CAPS) held Potomac Dialogue 2025 on Oct. 16-17. 
• Witherspoon Institute: "A low-profile conservative think tank with Princeton ties." 

"Open Revolt" Against Heritage Foundation President

Here is more from the Washington Post:

The Heritage Foundation is erupting in open revolt against its president, Kevin Roberts, as the right-wing think tank struggles to deal with internal and external anger over his defense of former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

The furor began after Carlson invited Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist who routinely espouses antisemitic views, onto his popular podcast. Roberts then posted a video that castigated a “venomous coalition” and “the globalist class” for attacking Carlson, whom Roberts called “a close friend of the Heritage Foundation.” Numerous Heritage staffers and conservative figures said the comments played on antisemitic tropes.

A staff meeting Wednesday — Roberts’s latest attempt to quell a week of resignations and condemnations over his defense of Carlson — was marked with calls for him to resign and squabbles over whether Christian employees would be forced to participate in Jewish rituals.

At least five members of Heritage’s antisemitism task force have now resigned in protest, and distinguished fellow Chris DeMuth left the organization.

 

The Washington Post notes that there is "little sign" that Roberts's standing has been weakened with the think tank's 14-member board.

The newspaper also reported that an anonymous complaint was sent by three employees to Heritage's board in Feb. 2025, complaining, among other things, about Roberts's handling of Project 2025.  The letter also called the think tank's sidelining by the Trump Administration a "historic failure" by Roberts.

Update: The National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism severed ties with the Heritage Foundation.

Also, longtime Heritage Foundation board member Robert George is now the latest to announce his resignation over the incident. 

The furor begaafter Carlson invited Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist who routinely espouses antisemitic views, onto his popular podcast. Roberts then posted a video that castigated a “venomous coalition” and “the globalist class” for attacking Carlson, whom Roberts called “a close friend of the Heritage Foundation.” Numerous Heritage staffers and conservative figures said the comments played on antisemitic