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Kevin Roberts (political strategist)

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Kevin Roberts
President of The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action
Assumed office
December 1, 2021
Preceded byKay Coles James
Personal details
Born (1974-06-24) June 24, 1974 (age 50)
Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationUniversity of Louisiana, Lafayette (BA)
Virginia Tech (MA)
University of Texas at Austin (PhD)

Kevin D. Roberts (born June 24, 1974) is the president of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative political think tank, and its lobbying arm, Heritage Action. Prior to assuming his current role, he was the CEO of another conservative think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation.[1] Roberts served as the president of Wyoming Catholic College from 2013 to 2016.[2][3]

Soon after Roberts joined Heritage in December 2021, the organization established Project 2025, an expansive plan to reshape the United States federal government and consolidate executive power should the Republican Party candidate win the 2024 presidential election.[4]

Early life and education

Roberts was born in 1974 in Lafayette, Louisiana to James A. Roberts, Sr. and Susan P. Rabalais.[5] He graduated from Lafayette High School in 1992, earned a bachelor's degree in history magna cum laude from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1996, earned a Master of Arts in history from Virginia Tech in 1999, and earned a Ph.D. in American history from University of Texas at Austin in 2003.[1][5]

Career

Wyoming Catholic College

Roberts served as president of Wyoming Catholic College from 2013 to 2016 when he accepted his position as executive vice president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

During his tenure as president of Wyoming Catholic College, Roberts led the institution to an outright rejection of Title IV federal student loans and grants, citing religious liberty concerns.[6] The decision made the college one of just a few colleges in the nation to reject such funding. In an article on the decision, The New York Times described Roberts and his students as "cowboy Catholics" for their independence.[7]

Heritage Foundation

In October 2021, it was announced that Roberts had been selected to replace Kay Coles James as president of The Heritage Foundation.[8][9]

In September 2023, Roberts was selected as president of Heritage Action, the lobbying arm of The Heritage Foundation, after the executive director, Jessica Anderson, took a leave of absence in July 2023.[10][11] Roberts "serves both organizations in a joint role."[12]

In January 2024, Roberts said that he did not believe that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. He also said that he saw Heritage's role as "institutionalizing Trumpism," adding "the Trump administration, with the best of intentions, simply got a slow start. And Heritage and our allies in Project 2025 believe that must never be repeated."[13]

When asked during a June 2024 interview if Heritage would accept the results of the 2024 presidential election regardless of its outcome, Roberts replied, "yes, if there isn't massive fraud like there was in 2020." Despite the persistence of an election denial movement, no evidence of material election fraud in 2020 was found. When presented with data from the Heritage election fraud database indicating there were just 1,513 proven instances of voter fraud in the United States since 1982, Roberts responded that fraud is "very hard to document, and the Democrat party is very good at fraud."[14][15] Roberts also asserted that liberals "are supporting legislation that abortion can happen until three days after the person's born."[16][17]

Appearing on Steve Bannon's War Room podcast in July 2024 to be interviewed by former Congressman Dave Brat, Roberts said: "Let me speak about the radical left. You and I have both been parts of faculties and faculty senates, and understand that the left has taken over our institutions […] In spite of all this nonsense from the left, we are going to win. We’re in the process of taking this country back … our side is winning.”[18][19] "We ought to be really encouraged by what happened yesterday", said Roberts, in reference to the Supreme Court deciding in former President Donald Trump's case that presidents have significant immunity against being prosecuted for actions in office.[19][20] Roberts further declared: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be".[20]

References

Wikiquote has quotations related to Kevin Roberts (political strategist).
  1. ^ a b "Texas Public Policy Foundation announces Kevin Roberts as new Executive Vice President". Texas Public Policy Foundation. April 4, 2016. Archived from the original on April 24, 2024. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  2. ^ Samuels, Brett (October 14, 2021). "Heritage Foundation names new president". The Hill. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  3. ^ Wermund, Benjamin (October 14, 2021). "Texan Kevin Roberts, 'a D.C. outsider,' picked to lead conservative Heritage Foundation". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  4. ^ Levien, Simon J. (June 27, 2024). "Biden Campaign Takes Aim at Project 2025, a Set of Conservative Proposals". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Roberts, Kevin D. (2003). "Slaves and slavery in Louisiana: The evolution of Atlantic world identities, 1791–1831". Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Catholic College Won't Compromise Beliefs, Rejects Federal Financial Aid". FOX News Insider. 2015-03-29. Archived from the original on 2015-03-30. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
  7. ^ Healy, Jack (2015-04-11). "To Keep Free of Federal Reins, Wyoming Catholic College Rejects Student Aid". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
  8. ^ "Heritage Names 'D.C. Outsider' Roberts as New President | RealClearPolitics". www.realclearpolitics.com. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  9. ^ Samuels, Brett (2021-10-14). "Heritage Foundation names new president". TheHill. Retrieved 2021-10-18.
  10. ^ "Kevin D. Roberts, PhD". The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
  11. ^ "Heritage Action Executive Director Announces Leave of Absence for…". Heritage Action. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
  12. ^ "Kevin D. Roberts, PhD". The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
  13. ^ Garcia-Navarro, Lulu (January 21, 2024). "Inside the Heritage Foundation's Plans for 'Institutionalizing Trumpism'". The New York Times.
  14. ^ "Top Project 2025 architect talks conservative blueprint for Trump second term". MSNBC. video at 7m20s. June 22, 2024.
  15. ^ Yoon, Robert (August 27, 2023). "Trump's drumbeat of lies about the 2020 election keeps getting louder. Here are the facts". Associated Press.
  16. ^ Luciano, Michael (June 23, 2024). "'That Is an Absurd Assertion!' MSNBC Host Shuts Down Guest Who Claimed Democrats Want Abortions 'Three Days After the Person's Born'". Mediaite.
  17. ^ Dale, Daniel (June 6, 2024). "Fact check: Trump falsely claims Democratic states are passing laws allowing people to execute babies after birth". CNN.
  18. ^ Bump, Philip (July 3, 2024). "The target of the right's 'revolution' is pluralistic democracy itself". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  19. ^ a b Astor, Maggie (July 3, 2024). "Heritage Foundation Head Refers to 'Second American Revolution'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  20. ^ a b Barber, Rachel (July 3, 2024). "Project 2025 head says 'second American Revolution' will be 'bloodless if the left allows'". USA Today. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
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