Embrace The Penguin 🐧

Sharks Eat Penguins

Yes, in the context of the "populist sharks" metaphor…

Check this list…

most people on your list align closely with the kind of figures and tendencies critics have called the "populist strain," "big-government populism," or the MAGA/national-conservative shift away from traditional Reaganite conservatism.

Here's a breakdown of how each fits (or doesn't) based on repeated critiques of populism (critics calling it a "road to ruin" for the GOP if it abandons limited government, free markets, alliances, and moral order), the Heritage staff exodus and the specific rifts around Heritage under Kevin Roberts:

• Heritage Foundation (under current leadership) → Yes, strongly considered part of it. The "sharks" metaphor arose precisely amid the mass departure of ~16 Heritage staffers in late 2025, circle framed as fleeing Heritage's embrace of "big-government populism" and related controversies (e.g., tolerance of certain fringes). Many have directly criticized Heritage's direction post-2020/ Project 2025 era.

• Kevin Roberts (Heritage president, Project 2025 architect, author of Dawn's Early Light with JD Vance foreword) → Yes, very much so. Roberts has publicly embraced and defended the "fusion of populism and conservatism," describing it positively as the path forward (e.g., in interviews and writings). His leadership at Heritage is the main trigger for the staff flight, who sees this as a betrayal of classical conservatism. The JD Vance connection (close friend, foreword) further ties him to the MAGA-populist orbit.

• Tucker Carlson → Yes, a prime example. Carlson (e.g., in 2025 interviews/comments) as emblematic of the problematic populist media influence. The 2025 Heritage blowup (Roberts defending Carlson's Nick Fuentes interview/platforming) was a key flashpoint that accelerated defections, with critics framing it as Heritage tolerating antisemitic or fringe elements under populist cover.

• Alex Jones → Yes. Jones represents the far-end conspiratorial/populist style that traditional conservatives, often distance themselves from as part of the broader "populist threat" eroding principled conservatism.

• General Michael Flynn → Yes. Flynn is a central MAGA-populist figure (election denialism, "America First" rhetoric, ties to fringe activism), fitting the anti-establishment, nationalist strain. Using his Digital Soldiers to push his message and then using the Republican Party platform to make a bid for President in 2028.

• John B. Wells (assuming the talk-radio/conspiracy-leaning host) → Yes, peripheral but fits. Figures in that alternative-media/conspiratorial space overlap with the populist ecosystem. Pushing Flynn agenda’s through his platform.

• Marjorie Taylor Greene → Yes. MTG is a vocal MAGA populist (economic nationalism, culture-war focus, Trump loyalty), embodying the shift diverging from limited-government conservatism.

• Brian Glenn (conservative commentator/TV host, often MAGA-aligned) → Yes, aligns with the populist media/commentator class (similar to Carlson orbit).

• Thomas Massie → No / outlier. Massie is more of a libertarian-leaning constitutional conservative (strong on limited government, fiscal restraint, anti-interventionist foreign policy, often critical of big spending and establishment). He clashes with MAGA populism on issues like entitlements, Ukraine aid, and government overreach. Conservatism would likely view Massie more favorably (or at least not as a "shark") compared to the others—he's closer to the old-school right than the nationalist/populist wave.

Overall summary:

Your list captures almost perfectly the spectrum of voices/institutions "populist sharks" devouring traditional conservatism—especially the Heritage shift under Roberts, Carlson/media populism, and core MAGA figures. The only clear exception is Thomas Massie, who leans more libertarian/Reagan-adjacent than populist-nationalist.