Christopher Rufo’s Shockingly Open Appeal: I’ll Fund Right-Wing “Culture War” Projects

A conservative activist has unveiled a fellowship that aims to help “conservative journalists, activists, and opinion leaders” foment a culture war.

Christopher Rufo, an ally of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, has become a leading figure in conservative education policy. He first gained national attention by instigating the explosive debate of critical race theory, which has now become a rightwing buzzword for diversity of thought.

Rufo unveiled the “Manhattan Institute Logos Fellowship” on Monday. “Fellows will bring a specific ‘culture war’ project to the program, which our team will help nurture over the course of the year,” he wrote in the announcement.

“The goal is to help move these independent projects from conception to execution, so that they begin to shape the discourse and change public policy. Some topics that we hope to address are critical race theory, gender ideology, higher education reform, crime and policing, and civil rights law.”

One benefit of the program is that fellows will be able to network with “cable news bookers, policy makers, and aligned organizations to promote the dissemination of ideas and policy proposals.”

Rufo already has considerable sway over school campuses throughout the U.S. He was placed on the board of the New College of Florida after DeSantis helped oust the liberally minded school’s former president. Rufo has also helped push to ban books and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across the country. Now, the man who lied about his Harvard degree is trying to extend his influence further by nurturing the next generation of the far-right.