Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference became a heated debate between Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson on Thursday as the two spent a lot of time arguing during their speeches.
During his speech, Shapiro criticized Carlson for inviting controversial guests like Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate on his show.
He also took issue with Carlson not speaking out against Candace Owens, who has been spreading harmful conspiracy theories about the founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk.
Shapiro said, “People who refuse to condemn Candace’s really harmful attacks, and some of them are here, are being cowards.
Yes, cowardice.” He added, “The fact that they’ve said nothing while Candace has been spreading terrible and conspiratorial lies for years is just as cowardly.”
He argued, “Being friends with public figures who do bad things doesn’t mean you should stay quiet about it.”
He continued, “So no, Tucker Carlson isn’t an excuse to stay silent about Candace’s attacks on TPUSA.”
Shapiro went on:
If you bring a guest on your show, you owe it to your audience to ask real questions that get to the truth.
If you agree with someone, that’s fine, but you should own that. For instance, if you bring someone like Nick Fuentes – who called the U.S. vice president a “fat, gay race traitor married to a Jeet,” who called Charlie Kirk a “retarded idiot,” and who said, in his own words, that he “took Turning Point USA and fucked it and that’s why it’s filled with Groypers” – you should speak up if you have him on your show. You shouldn’t just let him talk without challenging him.
He continued, “Charlie knew Nick Fuentes is a harmful person and building him up is a big mistake.
That’s exactly what Tucker Carlson did. He built Nick Fuentes up and he should take responsibility for that, just as he should for letting in someone like Andrew Tate, a pornographer and alleged sex trafficker, or for promoting Darryl Cooper, a fake historian and pseudo-Nazi supporter, as America’s best and most honest historian. Hosts are responsible for the guests they bring on and the questions they ask.”
Carlson responded to Shapiro’s attack in his own speech later that evening.
“I just got here, and I feel like I missed the first part of the program.
Hope I didn’t miss anything important,” he joked. “I don’t think I did. No, I’m just kidding, I watched it. I laughed.”
He said, “To hear calls for deplatforming and speaking out against people at a Charlie Kirk event, I’m like, what?!
That’s funny,” adding:
“The whole idea of the Red Guard Cultural Revolution that we used to fear on the left, and that we fought against, was meant to create a space where real debate could happen.
I think that’s what Charlie Kirk’s whole public life was about, and I believe he died for that. I really believe that. And I know a lot about it because the last few months of Charlie’s life were spent, in part, arguing about this event, this speech, and even my speech here, which he asked me to do earlier this year. And he faced a lot of pressure from people who donate to Turning Point – I assume they’re good people – but who wanted him to take me off the guest list.”
Pointing out that “Charlie believed strongly that people should be allowed to debate,” Carlson replied to Shapiro’s criticism by saying, “I thought we had reached the end of cancel culture, and as far as I’m concerned, we have, and I’m not going to play by those rules.
I’m not going to engage in that.”
Shapiro also criticized Megyn Kelly during his speech, accusing her of not doing enough to condemn Owens’ conspiracy theories.
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