# Christopher Rufo Conservative activist, filmmaker, senior fellow at the [[Manhattan Institute]], and the architect of the anti-[[Critical Race Theory]] campaign that became a dominant Republican issue in 2021-2022. Now leading a "hostile takeover" of New College of Florida as a trustee appointed by Gov. DeSantis. The [[New Right]]'s most effective **narrative engineer** — the person who proved you can manufacture a political crisis by strategic redefinition of terms. ## Role in the New Right Rufo is the **culture-war strategist** — the figure who demonstrated, with alarming effectiveness, how to weaponize language against progressive institutions. He explicitly described his method in a now-famous tweet: "We have successfully frozen their brand — 'critical race theory' — into the public conversation and are steadily driving up negative perceptions. We will eventually turn it toxic, as we put all of the various cultural insanities under that brand category." This is movement strategy stated as plainly as it can be. ## Key Campaigns - **Anti-CRT (2021-2022):** Redefined "[[Critical Race Theory]]" from an obscure academic framework into a catch-all term for any discussion of race in schools. Drove legislation in dozens of states banning CRT-adjacent content. Changed the national conversation. - **Anti-DEI (2023-2024):** Applied the same playbook to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs. Targeted Harvard president Claudine Gay, contributing to her resignation. DEI became the next toxic brand. - **New College of Florida (2023-):** Appointed as trustee by DeSantis. Leading transformation of a progressive liberal arts college into a conservative institution — a proof-of-concept for institutional capture from within. ## Connections - [[Manhattan Institute]] — Institutional home; publishes via City Journal - [[Yoram Hazony]] — Regular NatCon speaker - [[Ron DeSantis]] — Appointed Rufo to New College board; Rufo's campaigns aligned with DeSantis's political strategy - [[Christopher Rufo]] operates at the intersection of the NatCon policy world and MAGA culture warfare ## Notable Quotes - [[Christopher Rufo - reeducation camp for white males]] — "Nuclear Consequences," christopherrufo.com, August 12, 2020. The Sandia-lab scoop that launched his anti-CRT campaign and fixed Maoist "reeducation" vocabulary onto American DEI training; the seed of his 2023 book *America's Cultural Revolution*. ## See Also - [[Manhattan Institute]] - [[National Conservatism]] - [[The New Right Ecosystem]] - [[Heritage Foundation]] - [[Bill Ackman]] — Amplified Rufo's plagiarism research against Claudine Gay; provided Harvard-credential legitimacy for the anti-DEI campaign