The Nation Denies Soros Funding After Smearing Charlie Kirk
The controversy surrounding Charlie Kirk’s legacy deepened this week after The Nation magazine published a column comparing the slain conservative leader to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. The piece, penned by former Gawker editor Elizabeth Spiers, branded Kirk as “racist” and “misogynist” in what many critics see as an orchestrated character assassination.
Vice President JD Vance pushed back forcefully, claiming that The Nation has long benefited from George Soros’s financial influence. He cited Soros’s Open Society Foundation as a major supporter of the outlet, pointing out that the magazine’s nonprofit arm, once known as The Nation Institute (now Type Media Center), received at least $1.3 million in Soros-linked funding between 2004 and 2019.
Bhaskar Sunkara, president of The Nation, denied these claims outright on X, accusing Vance of “lying” and insisting the magazine had received “not one dime” from Soros. Yet, the record tells a more complicated story. The Type Media Center, still tied to The Nation, has continued to receive funding from leftist donor networks, including $150,000 as recently as 2022.
George Soros paid the Nation’s nonprofit $1.35 million. This is a standard leftist media tactic to hide the money they take from far-left NGOs https://t.co/FaNDmoCKUo pic.twitter.com/0hecbxhSC2
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) September 16, 2025
Conservative commentators argue this pattern reflects a broader strategy among progressive media outlets: downplaying their financial ties to globalist donors while pushing radical narratives. Vance emphasized the irony that while Spiers’s essay misquoted Kirk and required a correction, liberal billionaires continue to reward such attacks with sustained funding.
The question remains: can The Nation credibly claim independence when its historical and financial ties suggest otherwise?
