Kevin Roberts | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Roberts in 2023 | |
| President ofThe Heritage Foundation andHeritage Action | |
| Assumed office December 1, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Kay Coles James |
| President of theTexas Public Policy Foundation | |
| In office February 16, 2018 – October 19, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Brooke Rollins |
| Succeeded by | Greg Sindelar |
| 2nd President of Wyoming Catholic College | |
| In office August 25, 2013 – August 28, 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Cook |
| Succeeded by | Glenn Arbery |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kevin David Roberts (1974-06-24)June 24, 1974 (age 51) Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | University of Louisiana at Lafayette (BA) Virginia Tech (MA) University of Texas at Austin (PhD) |
| Academic background | |
| Thesis | African-Virginian Extended Kin: The Prevalence of West African Family Forms Among Slaves in Virginia, 1740–1870 (1999) |
| Doctoral advisor | Crandall Shifflett |
| Other advisor | James Sidbury |
| Influences | Bernardin •Falola •Moynihan • Sidbury • |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | History |
| School or tradition | Integralism Catholic personalism |
| Institutions | New Mexico State University (2003-2005) Randolph School (2005-2006) University of Louisiana at Lafayette (2006-2013) John Paul the Great Academy (2006-2013) |
| Main interests | African-American history |
Kevin David Roberts (born June 24, 1974) is an American political strategist and former historian who is the president ofthe Heritage Foundation, aconservative political think tank, and its lobbying arm,Heritage Action. Roberts was previously the CEO of another conservative think tank, theTexas Public Policy Foundation.[1] He served as the president ofWyoming Catholic College from 2013 to 2016.[2][3]
Soon after Roberts joined Heritage in December 2021, the organization established the highly controversialProject 2025, an expansive plan to overhaul the government under a newRepublican administration and implement conservative policies.[4] Roberts has been called the "mastermind of Project 2025".[5]
Roberts was born on June 24, 1974, inLafayette, Louisiana, to James A. Roberts Sr. and Susan P. Rabalais (née Pitre).[6][7] He has a sister, Lori Roberts Romero.[6] Roberts's parents divorced in 1979. His father struggled with alcoholism, and his brother died by suicide at 15.[8] In high school, Roberts was anEagle Scout, captain of the Lafayette HighQuiz bowl team, and president of theNational Forensic League. He won over 50 awards inspeech and debate competitions.[9] Roberts graduated fromLafayette High School in 1992 and earned a bachelor's degree in historymagna cum laude from theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1996, a Master of Arts in history fromVirginia Tech in 1999, and a Ph.D. in American history fromUniversity of Texas at Austin in 2003.[1][6]
Roberts's dissertation examined the cultural construction of theLouisiana slave community from the 1790s to the 1830s, including the influence of thetransatlantic, trans-Caribbean, and interstate slave trades, the role of theCatholic Church as an agent ofcolonial Spain, and the contrasting demographic structures ofNew Orleans, the coastal sugar parishes, and theMississippi River-adjacent cotton lands.[10] In 2024,Samuel G. Freedman wrote in theLos Angeles Review of Books that Roberts's dissertation had "all the markings of conventionalhistoriography" and that his later views on the history ofracism in the U.S. starkly contrasted with "the intricate, nuanced work on enslaved Black people that he had done as a graduate student".[11]
Roberts worked as an assistant professor of history atNew Mexico State University from 2003 to 2005.[12] In 2006, he foundedJohn Paul the Great Academy, a private, independent Roman Catholic K-12 school in his hometown of Lafayette, where he serves as chair emeritus on the board of trustees.[13][14] The school's patron isJosemaría Escrivá, founder ofOpus Dei.[13]
Roberts served as president of Wyoming Catholic College from 2013 to 2016, when he accepted a position as executive vice president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. As president of Wyoming Catholic College, Roberts led the institution to rejectTitle IV federal student loans and grants, citing religious liberty concerns.[15] The decision made the college one of just a few in the nation to reject such funding. In an article on the decision,The New York Times called Roberts and his students "cowboy Catholics" for their independence.[16]
In October 2021, it was announced that Roberts had been selected to replaceKay Coles James as president ofthe Heritage Foundation.[17][18]
In September 2023, Roberts was selected as president ofHeritage Action, the Heritage Foundation's lobbying arm, after executive director Jessica Anderson took a leave of absence in July 2023.[19][20] Roberts "serves both organizations in a joint role".[21] In 2023, according to the foundation's filing with theInternal Revenue Service, Roberts was compensated $953,920 annually.[22]
In January 2024, Roberts said that he did not believe thatJoe Biden won the2020 presidential election. He also said that he saw Heritage's role as "institutionalizingTrumpism", adding, "theTrump administration, with the best of intentions, simply got a slow start. And Heritage and our allies inProject 2025 believe that must never be repeated."[23]
When asked during a June 2024 interview whether Heritage would accept the results of the2024 presidential election regardless of its outcome, Roberts replied, "Yes, if there isn't massive fraud like there was in 2020." Despite the persistence of anelection 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 theDemocrat party is very good at fraud."[24][25] He also said that liberals "are supporting legislation that abortion can happen until three days after the person's born".[26][27]
Appearing onSteve Bannon'sWar Room podcast in July 2024 to be interviewed by former CongressmanDave Brat, Roberts said: "Let me speak about the radical left. You and I have both been parts offaculties andfaculty 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."[28][29] He added, "We ought to be really encouraged by what happened yesterday", in reference to the Supreme Court decisionTrump v. United States, which held that presidents have significant immunity against being prosecuted for actions in office.[29][30] Roberts continued: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be".[30] Shortly afterward, the foundation released a statement that added, "Unfortunately, they have a well established record of instigating the opposite".[31][32]
Roberts wrote a book originally scheduled for release on September 24, 2024. It was originally titledDawn's Early Light: Burning Down Washington to Save America and then retitledDawn's Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America.[33][34] In the book, Roberts writes that"'many of America's institutions...need to be burned'...Included among those to be incinerated...are the FBI and theNew York Times, along with 'every Ivy League college', '80% of "Catholic" higher education', and the Boy Scouts of America."[35] The volume has a foreword by Vice PresidentJD Vance.[34][36][37] In August 2024, amid the controversy surrounding Project 2025, Roberts postponed the book release until after the November election.[38] He launched book promotion events in Manhattan and Washington, D.C., shortly after the election. On November 13,The Guardian published an account of the strange reception of one of its reporters at one of those events. Although the newspaper had received an invitation to attend the event, the reporter was expelled.[39]
Colin Dickey ofThe New Republic wrote that the book reveals paranoid,Stalinist tactics like using conspiracy theories to violently enforce the right's vision for the world.[40] In the book, Roberts criticizesbirth control and law enforcement (preferring a heavily armed frontier-like society), while promoting public prayer as a key tool in the competition with China.[40]
In July 2024, Oklahoma State SuperintendentRyan Walters appointed Roberts and conservative radio talk show hostDennis Prager to a review committee tasked with revising social studies standards for K-12 public school students. The committee's revisions included the incorporation ofconspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election, as well as references to the Bible and themes of national pride.[41][42]
In February 2025, Heritage Foundation board members received an anonymous complaint alleging that Roberts engaged in angry and profane behavior that made some people feel physically unsafe. The complaint also asserted that Roberts favored Catholic employees and that single women without children had "no skin in the game".[43]
In August 2025,David W. Blight, a professor of history atYale University and author ofFrederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, challenged Roberts to a series of public debates with a small group of historians.[44]
In October 2025, Roberts released a video statement defendingTucker Carlson after Carlson interviewed far-right political commentatorNick Fuentes onThe Tucker Carlson Show. Roberts argued that "Christians can critique the state of Israel without being antisemitic" and that Carlson's detractors constituted a "venomous coalition", which many Jews and Republicans, such as Texas SenatorTed Cruz, saw as an antisemitic trope.[45][46] After immense pressure, including a series of resignations from the Heritage Foundation, condemnations mainly from Jewish Republican figures, and a letter of demands from the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism,[47] Roberts issued an apology, later clarifying that the script he read in the video was composed by an aide who has resigned.[48][43][49] After the controversy,The Washington Free Beacon released a video of a staff meeting in which Roberts said he was not very familiar with Fuentes and was called a "master class in cowardice" by a Heritage senior legal fellow.[49]
In November 2025, American legal scholar and longtime Heritage Foundation board memberRobert P. George resigned from the organization, citing Roberts's refusal to fully recant remarks he had made in a video response to commentatorTucker Carlson.[50]
Roberts has been called the "Project 2025 chief",[35] an "architect of Project 2025",[51] the Project 2025 "mastermind",[5] and "the force behind Project 2025".[52] The project focuses on restructuring the federal government, advancing conservative priorities, and ensuring swift implementation of policy changes through personnel and administrative reforms.
TheAmerican Civil Liberties Union warned that Project 2025 threatens to erode democracy and civil liberties, proposing radical restructuring of the executive branch to serve a conservative agenda.[53] The liberalCenter for American Progress argues that Project 2025 would destroy the U.S. system of checks and balances, creating an imperial presidency with almost unlimited power to implement far-right policies.[54]
During his2024 presidential campaign, Trump released a statement distancing himself from Project 2025.Media Matters reported that Roberts later said, "No hard feelings from any of us at Project 2025 about the statement because we understand Trump is the standard bearer and he's making a political tactical decision there."[55]
While speaking at theReboot Conference in September 2024, Roberts said that ifKamala Harris won the 2024 election, he would start working on a theoretical second attempt at the Project 2025 agenda, dubbing it Project 2028.[56][57]
Roberts was invited to speak at a meeting of the Canadian Prime MinisterMark Carney's cabinet ministers in September 2025, but abruptly declined.[58]
Roberts has close ties to and receives regular spiritual guidance from the Catholic Information Center, led by anOpus Dei priest and incorporated by the archdiocese of Washington, D.C.[59]
Roberts and his wife, Michelle LaFleur Roberts, are both Catholic and are members of aSpringfield, Virginia parish. They have four children.[6][60] His eldest child was born while he was writing his doctoral dissertation.[6]
In 2024, several of Roberts's former colleagues from New Mexico State University have alleged that Roberts told them he had killed his neighbor'spit bull with a shovel because the dog's barking disturbed his family. Roberts has denied this, saying, "This is a patently untrue and baseless story backed by zero evidence."[61]
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