WASHINGTON — Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro denounced right-wing podcast titan Tucker Carlson as “an opponent of conservatism” who “has trafficked in nearly every conspiracy theory under the sun” in a speech at the Heritage Foundation on Wednesday.
Shapiro appeared at the largest conservative think tank in DC ostensibly to discuss his book, “Lions and Scavengers: The True Story of America (and Her Critics).” Instead, he took advantage of the platform to address what he called “the elephant in the room.”
“If we care about conservatism, if, as Heritage Foundation proclaims, our goal ought to be to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values and a strong national defense,” he rattled off, “then we must stand up against those who would pervert and twist the conservative movement into a movement without principles, or worse, a movement that promotes the very opposite of the principles that conservatives hold dear.”
“The Ben Shapiro Show” host then railed against Carlson’s influence in the conservative movement for at least 15 minutes, accusing him of flirting with socialism, conducting softball interviews with dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and the president of Iran and hosting “conspiracists on nearly every topic under the sun, uncritically nodding at their most bizarre assertions.”
“He has accused the Trump administration of covering up a Mossad-run child sex trafficking ring run by Jeffrey Epstein without of course actually mentioning Donald Trump’s name because Tucker is a coward when it comes to President Trump,” Shapiro said.
“Carlson, of course, reserves his chief foreign policy ire, unsurprisingly, for Israel with which he has a peculiar obsession,” he said. “And of course, Tucker Carlson has hosted and glowingly treated America’s foremost Hitler apologist, Nick Fuentes.
“A conservatism that treats Tucker Carlson as a thought leader is no conservatism.”
The verbal flogging came after Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, who hosted Shapiro for the book discussion, declared in an Oct. 30 statement after Carlson did an interview with the white nationalist Nick Fuentes that the podcaster and ex-Fox News host “always will be a close friend of the Heritage Foundation.”
When contacted by The Post for comment about the rhetorical assault, Carlson responded: “Too funny.”
The Heritage Foundation was in revolt last month — and lost one of its board members and top scholar, Stephen Moore, who’s served as an economic adviser to President Trump — over Roberts’ video statement embracing the podcaster.
Fuentes proclaimed himself “a fan” of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and criticized the influence of what he called the “organized Jewry” in American politics during the two-hour sit-down on “The Tucker Carlson Show.”
Carlson’s show is one of the top 10 most-streamed podcasts on Spotify, and the Cruz episode racked up tens of millions of views.
Roberts immediately came to Carlson’s defense in the aftermath, only to apologize days later following backlash from staff and scholars at his think tank.
Two more members of its Board of Trustees departed on Tuesday, Mediaite reported, with one accusing Heritage of faltering in its duty “to condemn antisemitism and hatred” and the other criticizing “a drift from the principles that once defined its leadership.”
At Wednesday’s event, Shapiro joked when Roberts began his armchair discussion with the author that he had neglected to mention much from his new book.
“You know, the beauty of Heritage is we love robust debates,” the Roberts told Shapiro.
“And surprises,” Shapiro butted in. “You love surprises.”
“I think I’ve proven I’m pretty damn good at surprises,” Roberts replied with a grin, before adding later in closing: “Count on Heritage to fight with you.”
