Conservative advocacy groups became embroiled in a civil war after one bashed President Donald Trump and Heritage Action’s pressure campaign to push Indiana to adopt a new congressional map.
Heritage Action helped boost Trump’s pressure campaign against Indiana, posting a statement on X shortly before the state Senate’s vote, which saw the bill voted down, warning of the consequences if Republicans didn’t vote in favor.
“President Trump has made it clear to Indiana leaders: if the Indiana Senate fails to pass the map, all federal funding will be stripped from the state,” a statement from Heritage Action on X read. “Roads will not be paved. Guard bases will close. Major projects will stop. These are the stakes and every NO vote will be to blame.”
The statement and wider effort were targeted by Advancing American Freedom, another conservative think tank representing much of the old guard of the Republican Party. One of its most prominent critics of the effort was Tim Chapman, a former co-founder of Heritage Action. In a response to the post, he accused his brainchild of abandoning conservatism altogether.
“I loved my time at Heritage Action and was proud to be a co-founder of what was such an important part of the conservative movement. So I say this with respect and sadness: There is nothing conservative about backing threats to a state’s federal funding because it declines to push a President’s own political agenda – that is unconstitutional and coercive to states,” he said.
“What would conservatives say if a Democrat threatened states federal funding to redraw congressional maps?” Chapman added.
“Appalling to see @Heritage_Action endorse this unconstitutional threat by @realDonaldTrump. The President does not have power to coerce state legislators to redraw congressional maps,” AAF senior fellow Joel Griffith said in his own response, tagging two members of Heritage to try and get them to denounce the effort.
These criticisms themselves weren’t entirely well-received. Several conservative figures bashed Chapman and his allies for pushing back against the effort, saying they were trying to lose.
“‘Real conservatism is letting Democrats win the House. You want to be a real conservative, right?'” conservative activist Will Chamberlain said mockingly.
WHY THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION DRAMA OVER ANTISEMITISM HAS DIVIDED THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT
“‘I want to feel good about losing on principle,’” election analyst and conservative commentator Christian Heienes said in his own mocking post.
The infighting comes amid a wider surge of fights within the Republican coalition, particularly among the centrist and hard-liner wings. Some of the moderates who previously comprised many conservative think tanks have clashed with the ideological tide of the Republican Party, a theme recently seen with an exodus from Heritage over its affiliation with Tucker Carlson.
