Frum conservative commentator Ben Shapiro tore into Tucker Carlson on Monday, slamming the former Fox News host’s stance on neoconservatism and accusing him of pushing Qatari propaganda while distorting Middle Eastern history.
Shapiro, never one to hold back, took direct aim at Carlson’s claim that U.S. foreign policy—specifically, the actions of so-called “neocons”—bears responsibility for the plight of Christians in Syria. Calling Carlson’s perspective “bizarre and twisted,” Shapiro accused him of fundamentally misreading history and exonerating brutal regimes in the process.
“This is a bizarre and twisted reading of history, at best,” Shapiro said, dismantling Carlson’s argument that the decline of Syria’s Christian population was the direct result of Western intervention rather than the bloody realities of Middle Eastern dictatorships. “The notion that Christians have generally been targeted by neocons in the West in the Middle East is a complete reversal of how history actually has worked.”
The clash comes after Carlson, who has been touring the Middle East, posted a message on X claiming that “neocons” vilified anyone who acknowledged that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad had protected Christian minorities. Carlson suggested that U.S. foreign policy—not regional tyrants and jihadist movements—was responsible for the suffering of Christian communities in the region.
“Assad protected the Christians,” Carlson insisted. “The weaker Assad was, the more Christians died.” He went on to argue that Western-backed efforts to depose Assad led to an exodus of Syrian Christians and the destruction of their holy sites, with neoconservatives in Washington either indifferent to or complicit in their suffering.
Shapiro was having none of it.
“I have suspicions as to what Tucker means by quote, unquote ‘neocons,’” he fired back. “The idea that Christians can live safely in the Middle East, outside of Israel, is absurd.” Shapiro pointed to the grim reality for Christian populations across the region, including in Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia—places, he noted, where Carlson has recently taken a more conciliatory tone.
Shapiro continued, accusing Carlson of “doing a bit of propaganda work on behalf of the Qatari regime” and peddling a narrative in which America and Israel shoulder all the blame for Middle Eastern conflicts while absolving Iran, Hezbollah, and other regional actors.
Shapiro and Carlson’s bitter ideological feud has been simmering for months, particularly in the wake of Hamas’ brutal October 2023 attack on Israel. The animosity boiled over when Carlson hosted former Daily Wire commentator Candace Owens—an open antisemite—in what many saw as a deliberate jab at Shapiro. Shapiro, in turn, has accused Carlson of spreading “ugly” and misleading rhetoric about him.
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One Response
More frustrating than any of the points Ben Shapiro is making is the fact that Tucker Carlson for some reason can never put on a suit and a tie like most respected journalist. He seems to wear the same checkered shirt and the same pants day in and day out whether he’s speaking at the Republican Convention or he’s interviewing Pres. Trump at the WH or doing his podcast…. it’s the same piece of trashy clothing, day in and day out…
I’d like to ask Tucker what that reporter famously asked Pres. Zelensky the other week in the Oval Office in front of Trump “do you own a suit?”