{"id":76271,"date":"2024-09-14T10:00:09","date_gmt":"2024-09-14T10:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/70382a97bc6ff88645a8e6a58824988e"},"modified":"2024-09-14T10:00:09","modified_gmt":"2024-09-14T10:00:09","slug":"crush-liberal-dominance-conservative-megadonor-urges-leaner-meaner-posture-for-activist-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/crush-liberal-dominance-conservative-megadonor-urges-leaner-meaner-posture-for-activist-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Crush liberal dominance&#8217;: Conservative megadonor urges leaner, meaner posture for activist groups"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"article-gating gated-overlay show-gate\" readability=\"24.90543071161\">\n<div class=\"article-gating-wrapper\" readability=\"28.62265917603\">\n<p>Join Fox News for access to this content<\/p>\n<p>You have reached your maximum number of articles. Log in or create an account FREE of charge to continue reading.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gating-legal tablet-desktop\" readability=\"21.43949044586\">By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News&#8217; <span class=\"waslinkname\">Terms of Use<\/span> and <span class=\"waslinkname\">Privacy Policy<\/span>, which includes our <span class=\"waslinkname\">Notice of Financial Incentive<\/span>. <\/div>\n<p><span>Please enter a valid email address.<\/span><\/p>\n<footer class=\"article-gating-footer\"><span class=\"waslinkname\">Having trouble? Click here.<\/span><\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"speakable\">Billionaire conservative philanthropist Leonard Leo, who operates a vast network of conservative nonprofits, called on his groups to start &#8220;weaponizing&#8221; their ideas, something he said the left has been championing over the years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\"><span class=\"waslinkname\">A letter sent to groups<\/span> supported by Leo&#8217;s 85 Fund on Wednesday said it would be undergoing a &#8220;comprehensive review&#8221; of entities it supports, and &#8220;will be adjusting the extent to which it funds ideas and policy development.&#8221; The goal, according to Leo&#8217;s letter, is to ensure their philanthropic efforts are not overly focused on &#8220;ideation,&#8221; or as Leo describes it, &#8220;the development of and education about conservative ideas and policies.&#8221; Rather, Leo wants his groups to adopt more aggressive tactics that &#8220;weaponize&#8221; their ideas and produce more tangible results, something he suggested liberals have championed effectively for their causes. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Left built powerful networks of activists, academics, journalists, and philanthropists, along with professionals from other disciplines, who could collaborate to influence public attitudes and generate political pressure on public officials,&#8221; Leo said. &#8220;They invested in talent pipelines to populate the power centers inside government, where policy would be implemented. They incubated litigation as a means of leveraging the law to produce change. And, beyond politics and law, <span class=\"waslinkname\">left-wing philanthropy<\/span> built or took over enormous infrastructure to control various cultural chokepoints.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In contrast,&#8221; Leo continued, &#8220;vastly insufficient funds are going toward operationalizing and weaponizing [conservative] ideas and policies to crush liberal dominance.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"waslinkname\"><strong>\u2018STOP PRETENDING\u2019: CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST WANTS DEMS BEHIND SCOTUS ETHICS RULES TO TAKE THEIR OWN MEDICINE<\/strong><\/span>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/343\/192\/GettyImages-1216849850-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/686\/384\/GettyImages-1216849850-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/672\/378\/GettyImages-1216849850-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/1344\/756\/GettyImages-1216849850-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/931\/523\/GettyImages-1216849850-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/1862\/1046\/GettyImages-1216849850-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"523\" width=\"931\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/720\/405\/GettyImages-1216849850-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/1440\/810\/GettyImages-1216849850-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"405\" width=\"720\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/crush-liberal-dominance-conservative-megadonor-urges-leaner-meaner-posture-for-activist-groups.jpg\" alt=\"Leonard Leo at podium speaking in 2019\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\" readability=\"8\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><span>Leonard Leo speaks at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 2019.<\/span> <!----><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Leo&#8217;s letter cited the <span class=\"waslinkname\">George Soros-funded<\/span> Tides Foundation and the Hansj\u00f6rg Wyss-backed Arabella Advisors as examples of groups that &#8220;incubate action-oriented campaigns.&#8221; He pointed to their support of nationwide NGOs like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). SJP has been at the forefront of drumming up anti-Israel sentiment at college campuses across the country since Hamas&#8217; Oct. 7 terror attack that killed over a thousand innocent Israelis and took hundreds hostage. Meanwhile, WPATH has been at the forefront of the transgender movement, publishing standards of care that doctors and public officials alike have used to justify &#8220;gender-affirming care&#8221; for minors.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;With donors like Hansj\u00f6rg Wyss and the Arabella Advisors network having billions at their disposal, the left is able to significantly outspend the conservative movement to shift American society,&#8221; Leo told Fox News Digital. &#8220;Consequently, we need to do more with less, focusing on leveraging the conservative movement&#8217;s talent to have impact, if we want to be successful.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Leo is the co-chairman and former executive vice president of the Federalist Society, a group focusing on advancing the principles of a limited, constitutional government, particularly in the legal world. He has been credited with transforming the Federalist Society into the powerhouse lawfare organization it is today with more than 70,000 members. Meanwhile, Leo has also been considered one of the foremost influences on former President Trump&#8217;s <span class=\"waslinkname\">Supreme Court<\/span> nominations. Prior to Trump&#8217;s selection of Federalist Society-backed Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, Leo drew up a list of potential judges that Trump released during his 2016 campaign. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"waslinkname\"><strong>LEONARD LEO WARNS BIDEN-HARRIS EFFORTS TO RADICALLY OVERHAUL SUPREME COURT COULD \u2018BACKFIRE\u2019&nbsp;<\/strong><\/span>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/343\/192\/Supreme-Court.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/686\/384\/Supreme-Court.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/672\/378\/Supreme-Court.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1344\/756\/Supreme-Court.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/931\/523\/Supreme-Court.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1862\/1046\/Supreme-Court.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"523\" width=\"931\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/720\/405\/Supreme-Court.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1440\/810\/Supreme-Court.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"405\" width=\"720\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/crush-liberal-dominance-conservative-megadonor-urges-leaner-meaner-posture-for-activist-groups-1.jpg\" alt=\"Supreme Court justices posting for photo\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\" readability=\"10\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"15\">\n<p><span>From left: Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson attend a private ceremony for late Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O&#8217;Connor in the Great Hall at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 18, 2023.<\/span> <span>(Jacquelyn Martin-Pool\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>After Trump was elected, Leo stepped away from his daily duties with the Federalist Society, but remained its co-chair. Meanwhile, in 2022, Leo&#8217;s Marble Freedom Trust received a $1.6 billion gift from American businessman and GOP donor Barre Seid. Leo still has roughly $1 billion left to spend, <span class=\"waslinkname\">the Financial Times reported<\/span> this week after analyzing public financial disclosures. A representative for Leo declined to share how many total NGOs receive financial support from the 85 Fund.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pull-quote\" readability=\"8\">\n<p class=\"quote-text\">&#8220;[W]e need to do more with less, focusing on leveraging the conservative movement&#8217;s talent to have impact, if we want to be successful.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <!----><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Expect us to increase support for organizations that call out companies and financial institutions that bend to the woke mind virus spread by regulators and NGOs, so that they have to pay a price for putting extreme left-wing ideology ahead of consumers,&#8221; Leo said during a rare interview he granted to the Financial Times.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Leo told the outlet that his Marble Freedom Trust has been increasingly focused on going after &#8220;woke&#8221; banks and China-friendly entities across a range of sectors, such as food production and artificial intelligence. Leo also indicated he plans to invest in local media in the U.S. over the next year. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/343\/192\/GettyImages-1784835514-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/686\/384\/GettyImages-1784835514-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/672\/378\/GettyImages-1784835514-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/1344\/756\/GettyImages-1784835514-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/931\/523\/GettyImages-1784835514-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/1862\/1046\/GettyImages-1784835514-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"523\" width=\"931\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1280px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/720\/405\/GettyImages-1784835514-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/1440\/810\/GettyImages-1784835514-scaled.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"405\" width=\"720\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.timesamerica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/crush-liberal-dominance-conservative-megadonor-urges-leaner-meaner-posture-for-activist-groups-2.jpg\" alt=\"protest sign outside theater\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><span>Protesters display a sign to protest conservative billionaire philanthropist Leonard Leo.&nbsp;<\/span> <!----><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The call from Leo for his groups to &#8220;operationalize&#8221; and &#8220;weaponize&#8221; their ideas has been met with anger from liberal critics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Leonard Leo\u2019s brazen call to &#8216;weaponize&#8217; the conservative movement further exposes his strategy of using his dark money network to force his right-wing agenda on everyday Americans and stack the deck in favor of the powerful few,&#8221; <span class=\"waslinkname\">said Carolina Ciccone,<\/span> president of NGO watchdog Accountable.US. &#8220;Let\u2019s be very clear: This isn&#8217;t just about shaping conservative thought \u2014 it\u2019s about weaponizing the very institutions that are set up to protect the rights of everyday Americans to serve the interests of right-wing special interests.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"waslinkname\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"waslinkname\">Jay Willis,<\/span> former GQ writer and current editor-in-chief of progressive commentary website Balls &amp; Strikes, accused Leo of trying to rebrand &#8220;as an Elon Musk-style culture warrior who rants about the \u2018woke mind virus.\u2019&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Join Fox News for access to this content You have reached your maximum number of articles. Log in or create an account FREE of charge to continue reading. By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News&#8217; Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. 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