Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson have been at odds in recent weeks. Shapiro told Megyn Kelly he isn’t the source of the problem.
Last week, Carlson welcomed Nick Fuentes to his podcast. The controversial political commentator is a self-described Christian Nationalist who has previously shared admiration for Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.
That podcast appearance led Shapiro to publicly lambast Carlson for having someone like Fuentes on his show, calling the host “an intellectual coward” and a “terrible friend.”
After Carlson joined Megyn Kelly for a live tour stop earlier this week, Shapiro made a similar appearance on Thursday evening. He confirmed what Tucker Carlson had said: that Carlson had reached out in the days following the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the two attempted to find common ground.
Carlson argued that he and Shapiro had agreed to no longer attack one another, but Shapiro did not follow up with his end of the bargain.
During the stop with Kelly, Ben Shapiro claimed to read texts between him and Tucker Carlson, purporting to show that he had gone as far as to suggest the two host a joint podcast episode.
“I texted him, and the exchange was very nice. Here’s what the actual conversation went like after the call: I texted him and said, ‘Thanks so much for calling. It means the world. It truly does. Should we do a show together talking about the DSA threat, Democratic Socialist America threat, and orienting in the same direction? Happy to do whatever it takes to bring everyone back together for the fight that matters.’
“Tucker then wrote back, ‘Thanks, man. I appreciate it. I’m going to spend the next week or two thinking about how to be most effective. The country is clearly on the brink.’ I reached out repeatedly after that, but nothing happened,” said Shapiro. “I thought it was a good idea at the time, but I felt differently after I saw what he did with Nick Fuentes.”
Shapiro added that he spoke of his relationship with Tucker Carlson “with sadness” because he believes that the host “used to be a deeply important part” of the conservative moment. However, he argued that the influence of Carlson has been clouded by his association with Fuentes.
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