While support for the president and contempt for the left has united conservative media for years, Gaza has been driving a wedge between two of the right’s biggest names.
In recent months, conservative commentator Ben Shapiro has repeatedly criticized Tucker Carlson. In a video in June, he said he disagreed with Carlson’s views on America’s foreign policy in the Middle East, and in an interview promoting his book, he described Carlson as part of a group of ideological “scavengers” whose politics are highly grievance-oriented. And in recent months, Shapiro has told at least one person privately that he had planned to denounce Carlson in a speech at a Turning Points USA event before TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk was shot and killed. (A spokesperson for Shapiro did not respond to a question about the initial plans for the speech. Reached by Semafor, Carlson said: “I’m amused.“)
It’s the latest data point in a widening gap between conservative commentators who’ve expressed reservations about the war in Gaza, including Carlson and the popular conservative YouTuber Candace Owens, and pro-Israel commentators like Shapiro and podcaster Josh Hammer.