The Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro torched Tucker Carlson on Monday over his interview with far-right firebrand Nick Fuentes last week, accusing Carlson of polishing abhorrent views that should fall outside the right's tent.
Why it matters: Shapiro's broadside escalates the war within MAGA over tolerating — and defending — racism, sexism and antisemitism. Both men have online followings that are bigger than many old-school media figures.
Shapiro used his entire show Monday to lambast Carlson as an "intellectual coward" and "dishonest interlocutor."
- Shapiro rattled off a list of past comments by Fuentes, including Holocaust denialism, saying women shouldn't be involved in politics, and claiming it's understandable for white people to be racist.
Carlson "acts as an ideological launderer," Shapiro said of the largely amiable interview last week: "He takes other people's hideous ideas. He softens them. He treats them with love and care. And then he provides them with a massive signal boost."
- Shapiro targeted Carlson for some of Carlson's own past rhetoric, including a friendly interview with Vladimir Putin and claiming a "brain virus" had infected staunch supporters of Israel in the U.S., particularly Christians who identify as Zionists.
- "There's no question that Tucker has become the most virulent super spreader of vile ideas in America," Shapiro said.
Shapiro insisted he's not interested in "canceling" Carlson or Fuentes.
- Both should be allowed to host their shows and have their social media accounts remain active, Shapiro told his viewers. But "it is not cancellation to draw moral lines between viewpoints."
Zoom in: Monday's blast pits two conservative media titans against each other.
- Carlson, a former Fox News primetime anchor, hosts a popular show that often tops podcast charts. He boasts about 16.7 million X followers and has millions more on other social media platforms. Since leaving Fox News, he has aligned himself more closely with the movement's right-most wing.
- Shapiro founded The Daily Wire a decade ago and turned it into a juggernaut, with millions of social media followers and a high-profile podcast. The Daily Wire has hosts with a range of opinions, but Shapiro still favors some policy stances from the pre-Trump GOP establishment.
The other side: Fuentes and a spokesperson for Carlson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Between the lines: Shapiro and Carlson had a high-profile feud last year over the war in Israel, with Carlson accusing Shapiro of caring more about foreign conflicts than the U.S.
- Shapiro responded by saying he frequently discusses domestic issues Carlson prioritizes.
- Shapiro, an observant Jew, has long hammered Fuentes' spreading of antisemitic conspiracy theories. Fuentes credits Shapiro's criticism of him early in his career as helping garner significant attention and propelling him from online troll to a leading voice for the far right.
Zoom out: MAGA has been tearing itself apart over how strict a purity test it needs to impose on its far-right flank.
- The movement was primed for an eruption after leaked texts from Young Republicans in New York, and the withdrawal of a Trump nominee over inflammatory texts.
- That debate exploded with Carlson's interview with Fuentes, which has 17.3 million views on X and more than 5 million views on YouTube.
- Fallout from the Carlson-Fuentes interview, amid a MAGA schism over Israel, pitted Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) against the establishment Heritage Foundation.
The bottom line: Shapiro said accepting rhetoric like Fuentes' "is a path to defeat and a path to moral oblivion. I reject it because if we lose the right, we will lose to the left. And either way, we'll lose the country."
