Ben Shapiro unleashed a blistering tirade against Tucker Carlson, accusing the former Fox News host of “normalizing Nazism” by hosting white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
“This is not about free speech,” Shapiro said in his lengthy monologue, titled “Tucker Carlson Sabotages America.”
Shapiro branded Carlson “an intellectual coward, a dishonest interlocutor, and a terrible friend,” charging that the one-time Fox star has become “the most virulent super-spreader of vile ideas in America.”
He accused Carlson of acting as “an ideological launderer,” softening the hate-filled rhetoric of figures like Fuentes and making their talking points acceptable within the GOP.
“Tucker Carlson decided to normalize and fluff Nick Fuentes … and the Heritage Foundation robustly defended that performance.”
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts praised Carlson after his interview with Fuentes last week, calling the host a “close ally” of the prestigious conservative organization.
Roberts also condemned those wishing to “cancel” Carlson, including critics that he described as a “venomous coalition” out to sow division.
“Kevin said openly that Tucker Carlson can do nothing ever that will sever his relationship with the conservative movement,” Shapiro fumed.
“That is a betrayal of Heritage’s history and principles.”
The Post reported on Monday that Heritage Foundation staffers were “embarrassed” and “disgusted” by Roberts’ statement of support for Carlson, which they considered “ridiculous” in the wake of his interview with Fuentes.
Shapiro blasted Carlson for lavishing attention on Fuentes while allegedly cozying up to dictators and conspiracy theorists.
“Tucker excuses [Russian President] Vladimir Putin’s murderous and barbarous reign,” Shapiro said, citing Carlson’s praise of Moscow as “so much cleaner and safer and prettier … than any city in the United States.”
He also quoted Carlson calling “Christian Zionists” — evangelical supporters of Israel — heretics.
“I dislike them more than anybody,” Carlson previously said. “It’s Christian heresy and I’m offended by that as a Christian.”
Fuentes, 27, leads a white nationalist movement known as “Groypers” and has been banned from multiple platforms.
Shapiro played a number of clips of Fuentes’ outrageous and offensive statements.
On one, Fuentes said on his podcast: “A lot of women want to be raped … there’s like a lot of women that really want a guy to beat the s–t out of them, but part of it is they have to pretend that they don’t.”
Shapiro also highlighted Fuentes’ racist diatribes, including the time he downplayed Jim Crow laws by saying, “Oh, they had to drink out of a different water fountain. Big f–king deal … grow up … it’s water.”
Shapiro accused Carlson of platforming a Hitler admirer and Holocaust denier, playing a clip of Fuentes calling Adolf Hitler “really f–king cool.”
In another segment, Fuentes mocked Holocaust victims and denied the number of victims. He has also called Jews “responsible for every war in the world” and urged that “those people … need to be given the death penalty straight up.”
He added: “They must be absolutely annihilated when we take power.”
Shapiro accused Carlson of turning a blind eye to antisemitism while attacking allies.
“He has said that the people he hates most in the entire world … are Christian Zionists who represent an enormous chunk of the conservative base,” the commentator said.
The Post has sought comment from Carlson, Fuentes and the Heritage Foundation.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
