Conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro blasted Tucker Carlson on Monday, calling him “the most virulent super-spreader of vile ideas in America,” adding fuel to an incident that sparked a staff shakeup at the Heritage Institute.
In an episode of “The Ben Shapiro Show” released Monday, Shapiro criticized Carlson’s podcast episode with Holocaust-denier Nick Fuentes, saying Carlson failed to push back on Fuentes’ bigotry.
“The issue here isn’t that Tucker Carlson had Nick Fuentes on his show last week. He has every right to do that, of course,” Shapiro said. “The issue here is that Tucker Carlson decided to normalize and fluff Nick Fuentes and that the Heritage Foundation then decided to robustly defend that performance.”
Carlson declined to comment when contacted Monday.
Shapiro’s critique is the latest crack in a conservative movement splintering over Carlson’s inflammatory interview with Fuentes. The interview, which aired last week, was laced with antisemitic references and sparked division within the Republican Party over whether the discussion should be allowed or condemned. On the podcast, Fuentes praised Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and claimed the “big challenge” to unifying the country was “organized Jewry.” Carlson, a former Fox News host who retains a large following, said Republican Israel supporters suffer from a “brain virus.”
The podcast episode was received differently by two bastions of conservative thought: The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board condemned it, while Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts defended it, criticizing the “venomous coalition” attempting to “cancel” Carlson after the interview.
“I disagree with and even abhor things that Nick Fuentes says, but canceling him is not the answer, either,” Roberts said. Roberts later explicitly condemned antisemitism and detailed his disagreements with Fuentes.
Shapiro pushed back on Roberts’ characterization. “It is not cancellation to draw moral lines between viewpoints,” Shapiro said. “In fact, we used to call that one of the key aspects of conservatism.”
The incident sparked internal changes at the Heritage Foundation. Ryan Neuhaus, Roberts’ former chief of staff, resigned from the conservative think tank Monday, a Heritage spokesperson confirmed. Neuhaus had reposted statements defending Roberts’ statement on X.
“[Neuhaus] is a good man, we appreciate his service, and we have no doubt he will serve the movement in another capacity,” the spokesperson said. The Hill first reported on his resignation.
Carlson’s interview with Fuentes came on the heels of other high-profile incidents of antisemitism on the political right. Last month, a nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel withdrew his nomination after bragging of his “Nazi streak” in a text message; days earlier, POLITICO reported on a leaked group chat of Young Republicans who praised Hitler and joked about the Holocaust. The same week, a Nazi symbol was discovered hanging in a GOP congressional office.
Shapiro, a prominent conservative podcaster who hosted fundraisers for Donald Trump and Senate GOP candidates during the 2024 cycle, warned that a “splinter faction” of white supremacists is being “facilitated and normalized” into the Republican Party’s mainstream, aided by Carlson.
“The main agent in that normalization is Tucker Carlson, who is an intellectual coward, a dishonest interlocutor, and a terrible friend,” Shapiro said.
At the annual Republican Jewish Coalition annual leadership summit last weekend, top GOP Jews attempted to distance Carlson from the GOP mainstream. Matt Brooks, CEO of the RJC, told reporters that antisemitism is “a very small, limited problem in our party,” and attendees waved printed placards that read, “TUCKER IS NOT MAGA.”
Shapiro, who is Jewish, warned that the GOP is “being eaten by its radicals.”
“The left followed its radicals to electoral hell,” Shapiro said. “Apparently, many on the right wish to do the same.”
