Fox News contributor and Daily Caller editor-in-chief Tucker Carlson added to the ongoing Republican civil war by calling conservative nonprofits “parasites” on conservatism who have consumed “literally billions of dollars” and “achieved virtually nothing in the last thirty years.” Carlson also remarked, “If there's a more useless group of people in the world, I'm not aware of it.”  

Since Mitt Romney's defeat last November, Republicans have been feuding among themselves over the future of the party and conservative ideals. The fight exploded when Karl Rove and his allies at American Crossroads announced plans to, in the words of The New York Times, “recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts.” Conservative media figures conservative groups like FreedomWorks have hit Rove over the project. FreedomWorks raised nearly $41 million last year and has come under heavy scrutiny recently due to bizarre internal feuding and questions about its finances.  

Carlson made his remarks on the March 18 broadcast of WMAL's Mornings on the Mall during a discussion about the Republican infighting. From the program:  

CARLSON: There are a ton of sleazy consultants out there. A lot of them are getting rich, I live near a lot of them, so I can vouch for their richness, for sure. The irony, though, is that these charges are being thrown by almost always people in the conservative nonprofit sector, and if there's a more useless group of people in the world, I'm not aware of it. I mean, conservative nonprofits in Washington consume over time, over the last forty years, literally, literally billions of dollars. And the country has become much more liberal in every single way.

So they have failed to do anything other than, you know, buy weekend houses and send their kids to college. I mean they've profited from it. But they haven't won, you know, any important ideological victory in thirty years. So like, wait a second. They need to reexamine their own status. I mean, these are parasites too, as far as I'm concerned. They really are.

LARRY O'CONNOR (CO-HOST): Just a quick follow up because you're making it sound like this is really a battle over money. Are you saying those nonprofits are hammering consultants like Karl Rove because they don't like all that money being donated to -- to the consultants instead of going to the nonprofits?

CARLSON: I'm saying they ought to take the plank out of their eye before they point out the speck in their neighbors, I guess is what I'm really saying. I mean, I think there are a lot of really sincere, decent conservatives working in nonprofits, I know them, of course. I don't want to make a blanket indictment. However, they as a group have achieved virtually nothing in the last thirty years. I know, because I've lived here. And look at the results. Our taxes are higher, more people are pro-choice. I mean -- you know, like all their stated goals have not been achieved. And they've consumed a huge amount of money doing it, so it's time for some serious soul-searching. And for those people to get up and start screaming about how other people are wasting money and aren't sincere and are cynical, I mean, it's nauseating. To me, I'm not a consultant or an employee of a nonprofit so I think I can see it with some clarity, there are a lot of parasites on the, you know, on conservatism.

Carlson's remarks were highlighted on the video website of the conservative nonprofit Media Research Center. The MRC is headed by conservative activist Brent Bozell, who has harshly criticized Rove and discouraged donors from giving money to his group. In addition to heading the MRC, Bozell is also the chairman of ForAmerica, a conservative nonprofit.