opinion
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson criticized conservative commentator Ben Shapiro for his perceived lack of patriotism and focus more on Israel than the United States.
Carlson, a former Fox News anchor, launched a sharp attack on Shapiro because of his focus on international conflicts, especially those involving Israel and Ukraine.
In a recent interview with Sagar Injeti, host of “Breaking Points,” Carlson expressed shock at the apparent indifference of some conservatives to America’s well-being. He pointed out that some right-wing critics neglected important internal issues in favor of their concerns about Israel.
“In the case of Israel and the Arab world, I spent a fair amount of time in both and I love both. I felt terrible for the people who were killed on October 7, and I still feel that way. So I didn’t have any weird motive, I was just thinking about it.” From an American perspective: Is this good for us or not?’” Carlson said.
He added: “I was astonished by the intolerance and willingness to immediately resort to slander and character assassination.”
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Carlson criticizes Shapiro
Carlson then turned his comment to openly criticize Shapiro, the former editor-in-chief of Breitbart News, for, in his view, not maintaining the “America First” platform espoused by true conservatives.
“There are people on the right who have spent the last two months every day focusing on a conflict in a foreign country while our country becomes dangerously unstable, on the brink of financial collapse, with tens of millions of people out there who shouldn't be.” “Being here in the country, we don't know their identities or the purpose of their being here,” Carlson said.
He continued: “Like things that could really destroy the country and make it impossible for my children to live here.” “They haven't said anything about it, and are very focused on external conflicts.”
While this is certainly true among centrist Republicans (the vast majority), Carlson surprised many by going after Shapiro.
“I was shocked at how little they cared about the country, including the person you mentioned,” he said, referring to Shapiro. “And I can't imagine how someone like that could get an audience of people who claim to care about America, because he clearly doesn't.”
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Shapiro went after Carlson
In the days following the Hamas terror attacks on Israel, Shapiro accused Carlson of “downplaying” the events.
“He compared (the attacks) to drug overdose deaths in the United States,” Shapiro said in a podcast episode. “Now, I think we should be completely concerned about the 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States — these are two very different issues.”
“To go further, to connect the issues, the only reason you would do that is because you want to minimize the atrocities that just happened in Israel,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro did not stop there, but then asserted that Carlson's equating of the fentanyl crisis with terrorist attacks was “foolishness” and “moral stupidity at the highest levels.”
“Of course, we should care about what happens with fentanyl,” Shapiro said. “Of course, we must care – we must close our borders. Were you unclear about this?
“Of course, America should have closed its borders when it comes to this kind of thing. I'm on the same side as Tucker on that. I don’t understand why he doesn’t side with me when it comes to “Hamas must be wiped off the face of the earth.” “What exactly is the counterargument?”
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