As the war between Israel and Hamas intensifies, domestic division regarding America’s role in the conflict has become just as fierce, pitting one-time political allies against one another. In one of the most notable clashes, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro offered wildly differing assessments of the situation, sparking a contentious online debate.
The latest episode of Carlson’s “Tucker on X,” published just hours after the deadly Hamas incursion into Israel that claimed nearly 1,000 lives, focused on the “wise path forward” for the United States. Carlson spent much of the 25-minute episode condemning “warmongers” within the Republican Party pushing for military escalation in defense of Israel.
Ep. 29 After the Hamas attacks, what’s the wise path forward? pic.twitter.com/AwWkcLFUBb
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) October 9, 2023
To discuss this issue, Carlson was joined by presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, the sole Republican contender who opposes the idea of military intervention against Iran, the primary backer of Hamas.
After condemning the “barbaric” attacks against innocent Israelis and affirming the Jewish homeland’s right to self-defense, Ramaswamy also called out politicians like primary rival Nikki Haley who are “in a position to get wealthier from the war.” The entrepreneur also highlighted the pressing questions surrounding the intelligence failures that allowed the deadly invasion to occur.
Carlson similarly condemned the attacks, then turned his focus to America’s best interests and the war’s effects on the nation’s economy and security—concerns many leaders are dismissing out of hand. While America’s leaders are directing attention to the crisis in Israel, Carlson argued that the crisis of drug abuse and fentanyl overdoses stemming from the unsecured southern border is a much bigger priority.
“People are outraged by what happened in Israel—and I add my voice to that because I’m a human being,” Carlson said. “But the scale of the outrage among Republican presidential candidates was so much more intense…No one would think to do that about the 100,000 young people murdered every year by synthetic opioids.”
While Carlson’s discussion with Ramaswamy went on to address other related subjects, it was the former Fox News host’s equivocation of the Hamas invasion and the fentanyl crisis that stood out. One of the biggest critics of Carlson’s perspective was Ben Shapiro, co-founder and editor emeritus of the Daily Wire.
Shapiro, who is Jewish, is usually allied with Carlson in the conservative cause. However, the podcast host harshly criticized Carlson in an episode of the “Ben Shapiro Show,” calling his take “pathetic.”
“It’s pathetic that he engaged in this sort of nonsense,” Shapiro told his audience in a fiery reaction to the interview. “He’s a smart person and either he thinks you’re stupid or he’s engaging in stupidity. I don’t know which it is.”
Shapiro argued that drawing any kind of parallel between the rape and slaughter of Israeli citizens and the overdose of willing drug users is ridiculous and morally indefensible.
“To go this far afield to link the issues, the only reason you’re doing this is because you wish to downplay the atrocity that just happened in Israel,” Shapiro continued. “You’re not up-playing the atrocity of what’s happening on American streets. Those are two different types of atrocities.”
Social media reactions to the dispute further highlighted the divide between the two camps, with some reactions calling Shapiro a “Neocon” opposed to the America-First agenda and others saying that the Daily Wire host “destroyed” Carlson’s entire argument.
Ramaswamy’s interview with Carlson was also at the center of a heated debate between the presidential candidate and Carlson’s one-time colleague Sean Hannity on Thursday night. Quoting Ramaswamy’s own words back to him—and also mentioning Carlson on-air for the first time since his firing from Fox News—Hannity mocked Ramaswamy’s lack of political experience and accused him of flip-flopping on issues.
Ramaswamy called Hannity’s framing of his remarks a “shameful mischaracterization,” but Hannity promptly dumped his video feed and ended the segment. “I think it’s asinine to think somebody that worked in the defense industry should not be qualified to be president,” Hannity quipped. “I think people that never held public office like you, maybe they’re not qualified to be president!”
Yet another online scuffle broke out between Ramaswamy, journalist Megyn Kelly, and Daily Wire personality Candace Owens over the issue of “blacklisting” pro-Palestine demonstrators at American universities.
You’ve got to be kidding me. They sided with terrorists who murdered children and old women. You’re not clear on this as someone who wants to be president? https://t.co/656slMIQKL
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) October 15, 2023
If they are not “persuaded” that murdering babies is wrong, there is no “persuading” them. We don’t hire those who do the killing & we don’t hire those who applaud the killers while the savagery is underway. If you are open to hiring one of these lunatics, tho, good to know!
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) October 15, 2023
Oh stop it. This is incredibly disingenuous, Megyn.
You know that many of those students are not out there because they want babies to be murdered.
College kids are stupid. I used to be radically pro-choice. Glad I didn’t get put on a “conservative” black list for wanting… https://t.co/fxvnxUmSZY— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 15, 2023
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