The NXR Podcast - THE SPECIAL - Why Ben Shapiro Has Never Been Cancelled

00:00:00.000 I think it was even back in 2016, Ben Shapiro was writing anti-Trump stuff.

00:00:06.420 Not that he was supporting Hillary Clinton, but like Trump's not good.

00:00:10.480 Then even before the 2024 election, he's, we're going to Santas, not Trump.

00:00:17.920 Right.

00:00:18.180 You're right.

00:00:18.560 And you watch him.

00:00:19.520 He's flip-flopped on that.

00:00:21.160 And to me, the biggest one is what you mentioned.

00:00:24.700 Ben Shapiro was advocating for vaccines.

00:00:27.980 A hundred percent.

00:00:28.540 Not just not speaking out against them, but advocating for them.

00:00:36.520 Radical Christian nationalist pastor.

00:00:39.700 Joel Webin.

00:00:40.520 Joel Webin.

00:00:41.700 I'm going to talk about Joel Webin.

00:00:43.760 Joel Webin is an accident.

00:00:58.540 This is episode four of a five-part series between myself and J.P. Sears. If you have

00:01:10.940 stuck with us throughout this series, they're dropping once per week on Wednesdays at 5 p.m.

00:01:16.200 Eastern Time, part three, the immediate prior episode to today. We talked about the power

00:01:23.620 and nature of comedy. We said that the nature of comedy is inherently transgressive, meaning that

00:01:31.620 the true comedian is going to be willing to cross a line, transgress, call balls and strikes, as JP

00:01:39.480 often says, and he's willing to do it wherever those balls and strikes can be found. He's willing

00:01:45.320 to be a bipartisan comedian because his commitment is not to a person like Trump, but to a concept

00:01:52.840 like truth. And so one of the signs of the comedian is his willingness to critique his own

00:01:59.580 team. He's willing to be canceled by his own side. Well, we talked about that in theory,

00:02:07.780 right? The 30,000-foot view in episode three, what the comedian does. He's the little kid

00:02:14.600 in the middle of the mob, the crowd, that's willing to say out loud and point, say that

00:02:21.040 the emperor has no clothes. And so today, what we want to do is kind of take the principle

00:02:27.400 of what we espoused and laid out in episode three. Now in episode four, we want to give the case

00:02:33.640 study, an example on the alternate side of who is not willing to do that, who is not willing to

00:02:44.180 transgress, to actually critique, to follow the truth wherever it leads, who is the person that

00:02:54.100 no matter how bad things might be, like 2020 through 2024, high watermark of the left where

00:03:01.520 guys on the conservative side of the aisle are being canceled, left and right, people are being

00:03:06.540 demonetized. People are being de-platformed. Algorithms are suppressing and silencing and

00:03:13.900 canceling people. And yet, mysteriously, Ben Shapiro, conservative of all conservatives,

00:03:23.760 is able to navigate those waters without being canceled, without losing his YouTube channel,

00:03:30.360 with still staying on the air it's not a coincidence actually um it's because he never

00:03:38.740 really transgressed never really canceled because he never really was courageous that's what we're

00:03:47.540 going to be talking about in today's episode my point is each one of these guys whereas if you 0.94

00:03:53.280 think in those terms like who was willing to pay a cost yeah at least some cost who was willing to

00:04:00.060 transgress their own side who is willing to self-deprecate their team not just the the

00:04:06.560 opposing team but their own team who is willing to do that uh and and then by proxy um perhaps

00:04:13.800 an even more uh insightful or revealing question um who was not so ben shapiro conservative of

00:04:23.060 all conservatives has has ben shapiro ever really trans like has he really ever paid a serious cost

00:04:31.820 because you think oh he stood for truth and like okay but let's just be honest for a second go

00:04:37.980 down memory lane 2020 to 2024 some of the darkest years in in living memory in our lifetime

00:04:45.280 politically culturally here in these united states um was he getting criticism yes he was

00:04:53.040 um but people were getting like they were losing their youtube channels social media

00:04:58.740 left and right like all over the place the daily wire was putting up millions of views this is

00:05:05.460 kind of like their their heyday yeah right like i mean that you know the mighty have fallen

00:05:09.660 quite a bit but but this was like daily wire you know ben shapiro jeremy boring like it's just

00:05:17.160 hit after hit and part of it is you know they were doing some good work like i don't want to

00:05:23.780 throw the baby out with the bath water so it's like you got to be able to critique yourself

00:05:27.580 critique your own team uh you also need to be able to um admit um the successes of people even

00:05:34.760 if you eventually come to disagree with them like i don't have to rewrite history because

00:05:39.100 that's dishonest there were some moments where uh the daily wire was a breath of fresh air yeah

00:05:45.760 i agree praise god you know and uh you know 2020 i was listening to a decent amount of daily wire

00:05:53.900 now i kind of look back now and i'm and i'm like you know like the hardest part of of that year of

00:06:01.520 listening to that much daily wire was you know having to tell my dad that i'm gay you know so

00:06:05.340 So like, you know, so like there were, you know, there's some drawbacks, but I still have to admit

00:06:08.580 the truth that at that time I was, I was enjoying some daily wire. Here's the point. Even though

00:06:16.260 Ben Shapiro was willing to do some things that garnered criticism, he never really crossed the

00:06:22.300 Tiber or the Rubicon, the Tiber, that would be like a Catholic thing, but Caesar crossing the

00:06:28.880 Rubicon, that true transgressive moment. Like, so how did the daily wire succeed? Well, part of it,

00:06:34.700 they were doing some good content part of it also like how did um silly uh illustration but

00:06:40.000 how did Bubba Gump shrimp become multi-millionaires you know if you ever watch Forrest Gump uh well

00:06:46.700 part of it was where they they were just the best shrimpers and they knew where the shrimp could be

00:06:51.840 no it was all the other shrimp boats got wrecked yeah in a big hurricane and they were like the

00:06:58.440 only boat that was still in operation and so then all of a sudden there's zero competition and they

00:07:04.000 clean up shop and and get all the shrimp and boom bubble gum shrimp rich um one of the ways that the

00:07:11.420 daily wire became so successful is they they did some things with excellence they had some great

00:07:16.940 marketing great branding leftist tears you know and jeremy's razors and they they did they hit

00:07:23.900 some of those moments and they were they were prompt they were sharp um and and pretty good

00:07:29.540 branding timely and and done with excellence but don't forget one other pretty pretty strong

00:07:39.320 contribution to their success a lot of their competition during those years high like like

00:07:46.420 the the the pinnacle of power for the left those four years 2020 through 2024 a lot of the daily

00:07:53.980 wires competition a lot of other people on the conservative side were demonetized yeah defrocked

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00:09:21.180 you can feel good about feeding to your family. Like Nick Fuentes. I'll just, you know, I'll just

00:09:28.700 use him as an example. So you don't have to agree with everything that Nick says. You don't have to

00:09:33.400 agree with anything that Nick says. I like Nick Fuentes. I have my disagreement. He's a Catholic.

00:09:38.200 I'm a Protestant, right? So there's things that I disagree with, but I like him and I appreciate

00:09:43.500 his courage, if nothing else. And there's more than that, but that one for sure. I appreciate

00:09:48.980 his courage. And people are like, well, you know, sure, Nick, you know, he can throw up a live

00:09:54.640 stream on a Tuesday night at 1 a.m. and have 200,000 views, you know, and 40,000 live viewers.

00:10:01.380 and that's impressive but you know but he's not like uh joe rogan and i appreciate joe rogan too

00:10:06.800 or he's not like tucker carlson and i really appreciate tucker carlson too but let's be

00:10:11.300 honest for a moment um nick is competing with both of his hands tied behind his back like love

00:10:18.880 him or hate him say what you will but um we always forget this nick still can't have a youtube channel

00:10:25.480 you know he's throwing these views up on rumble you know what i mean nick still can't get a blue

00:10:31.640 check on twitter he was barely let back on by elon that that poll was taken elon you know

00:10:36.620 elon's um for better for worse i like elon you know in general there's some things i don't like

00:10:42.320 but for better for worse he's a big democracy fan yeah so he's like the voice of the people

00:10:46.220 the voice of god you know whereas i'm kind of like i understand populism and i i appreciate

00:10:52.140 as far as it goes but sometimes the voice of the people is like just the voice of a lot of 0.98

00:10:56.180 retarded people you know so like the people people can be stupid yeah they're not always right but 0.98

00:11:00.540 anyways but that's that's kind of elon's guiding force is um and the people spoke you know he held 0.99

00:11:06.280 his poll and you know thousands and thousands of votes and it was majority vote was for letting

00:11:11.360 nick back on twitter but still he has still not been allowed to be a verified account with a

00:11:17.340 check mark um and and so my point is this um the daily wire mostly ben shapiro right because i don't

00:11:26.300 think it's fair to say you know across the board michael knowles matt walsh all of them but

00:11:31.640 mainly ben shapiro um yeah he got criticism no doubt but um ben shapiro was never uh demonetized

00:11:43.160 or at least deplatformed kicked off of youtube or this out of the other kicked off of facebook

00:11:47.860 um for a long prolonged period of time when many other content creators on the right were

00:11:55.180 and part of the success of the daily wire was um being able to garner a monopoly

00:12:02.280 a conservative monopoly the bubba gum shrimp uh strategy when all the other boats got wrecked

00:12:09.800 And so you can think like, well, how, how did they do that?

00:12:13.780 How could they be conservative like everyone else,

00:12:17.120 but not have to pay the consequences when everybody else did?

00:12:21.520 And of course the answer is that they weren't conservative like everyone else.

00:12:25.200 Ben Shapiro looking back, you know, and you got your, your, I'm a conservative,

00:12:29.320 PragerU libertarian conservative goggles on, you know, at the time, 2020.

00:12:34.800 But looking back with a little bit more clarity and hindsight, which is 2020,

00:12:38.820 not the year but clarity ben shapiro was pushing for people to get the vax amen ben shapiro was

00:12:47.980 not really that outspoken about the blm riots you know ben shapiro like in other words on all the

00:12:54.460 major issues so generally conservative but on the major dogmas the things you're not allowed to

00:13:01.320 transgress ben shapiro followed the rules yeah he followed the rules and he was rewarded handsomely

00:13:08.380 he's now finally the consequences are catching up to him because people are like oh actually

00:13:14.220 you're not really courageous yeah you know uh he's never told the dangerous truths

00:13:21.980 that need to be said but aren't being said that's right i think when when like 2020 you know during

00:13:31.740 the height of daily wire getting to as big as they were, it appeared as though they were

00:13:38.740 telling dangerous truths as they were just speaking basic conservatism. And that appeared

00:13:45.200 dangerous because it was rare. Right. None of the mainstream media, a lot of the conservative

00:13:51.760 voices today weren't conservative voices then because they didn't have a reason to be like,

00:13:58.420 i didn't know i was conservative until starting 2020 and it's like oh cool i right so some people

00:14:05.040 it was just their personal journey they red-pilled later and then other people were actually

00:14:09.360 conservative but the reason why the daily wire got so much credit is because the most conservative

00:14:14.220 voices there were conservative people then but you couldn't hear them because the truly conservative

00:14:19.300 people back then were all canceled that's a huge part they were censored but telling the you know

00:14:26.240 safe talking about the safe stuff i think it was even back in 2016 ben shapiro was writing

00:14:34.100 anti-trump stuff not that he was supporting hillary clinton but like trump's not good

00:14:39.500 then even before the 2024 election he's we're going to santis not trump right you're right

00:14:48.040 and you watch him he's flip-flopped on that and to me the biggest one is what you mentioned

00:14:53.480 ben shapiro was advocating for vaccines a hundred percent not just not speaking out against them

00:15:01.560 that's right but advocating for them very very safe he gave some qualifiers because i want to

00:15:10.440 be honest he gave i remember he gave some qualifiers of like you know and and maybe

00:15:16.380 maybe children you know like he said that i know he said that children maybe don't need the vaccine

00:15:21.740 but um but he he wasn't just saying you know 75 year olds need it yeah but he was talking about

00:15:28.520 how him and his wife like i remember him advocating specifically for perfectly healthy people in their

00:15:35.560 30s getting the vaccine if you're going to be around elderly people i mean he's like and so

00:15:41.900 you know my parents are a part of our lives so we're getting the back so he he didn't advocate

00:15:46.020 for the five-year-old getting it to be fair but he was advocating for 35 year olds to get it and

00:15:52.400 and it is good and fair of you to point that out yet advocating for 35 year olds to get it

00:15:59.700 is insane to me as well 35 year olds are now dropping dead yeah just from a sudden adult

00:16:07.840 death syndrome we don't know what causes it we're going to move on the how it also to be fair one

00:16:14.660 thing, well, I think probably many things, I think for the most part, aside from like Trump

00:16:21.140 and flip-flopping on him, Ben Shapiro has just kind of been himself, not a courageous guy

00:16:28.320 telling dangerous truths, but just walking this safe line. And if you look at what is making Ben

00:16:37.240 Shapiro repel viewers it's not a new perspective you know pro-Israel at all costs granted now he's

00:16:46.320 saying that message louder and more frequently but it's not a new message of his so yeah you

00:16:54.080 got to be fair like you've been consistent all along but the enemy has changed yeah but to be

00:16:58.820 fair so the point you're making is if I hear you correctly is Ben Shapiro has also been consistent

00:17:03.860 all along. He's being principled on Israel. It's not a principle I agree with or that I think is

00:17:09.840 accurate, but I will give him credit for that. Like if he were to just sell out, he might've

00:17:15.540 sold out in other ways. I don't know. But if he were to just sell out, he'd sit down in a meeting

00:17:20.120 and be like, Hey Ben, the more you talk about Israel, the more you're just losing viewers.

00:17:26.880 Look at these, look at all these numbers. It's terrible. You don't have to be against Israel.

00:17:33.160 just stop talking about it. And if Ben Shapiro were to sell out, he'd say, okay, I'll stop talking

00:17:38.640 about it, but it's important to him. And he still talks about it. So I, I admire that. I don't

00:17:46.580 admire the message, but I admire like, wow, I believe in this thing is consistent. Even if I

00:17:52.860 lose viewers, I'll keep talking about it. So, um, I will give him credit for that as well. And by

00:17:59.960 the way we're talking about humor if anyone were to need a little sense of humor upgrade joel uh 0.95

00:18:06.540 shapiro could we use it i find i i have to point this out i'm being a complete asshole while i do

00:18:13.080 it there's been some i'm sure it came from some producer idea the daily wire but they've tried

00:18:21.900 to do some videos where they like frame ben as a funny guy right like ben laughs at whatever

00:18:29.160 movie or ben and you know you see him on the thumbnail laughing or whatever it is i don't

00:18:36.080 know if he actually has a sense of humor but just like guys don't try to bring it's not believable

00:18:42.280 humor guy right and maybe it's kind of like ron desantis i like ron desantis but optically he

00:18:48.580 just didn't play he's cardboard yeah exactly so he's i think ron desantis is probably a great guy

00:18:53.920 yeah you know um but optic is yeah just just based off of strategy alone yeah probably shouldn't sell

00:19:02.100 ben shapiro as a comedic genius but also if i could uh giving credit where credit's due while

00:19:10.040 we're talking about how ben shapiro we haven't really seen exemplified courage from him the

00:19:15.960 daily wire has been smart enough to get other people that exemplify courage for example matt

00:19:22.780 walsh when he did uh uh what is a woman that was very transgressive especially at that time

00:19:30.200 he was saying in the biggest boldest way the thing you're not allowed to say so credit for them for

00:19:39.140 recruiting personalities i think jordan peterson they uh you know got to capitalize a bit on his

00:19:46.480 courage some of candace's courage and um but as far as in good for the daily wire to use them

00:19:54.900 while they lasted but as far as ben shapiro it's like yeah i i understand why people are repelled

00:20:02.520 right it is good on them in terms of just good business strategy in terms of it being morally

00:20:09.400 good and i know you're not saying that i personally without trying to be hyperbolic

00:20:16.620 and just speaking plainly without emotion i really do um i can't prove it objectively but i really

00:20:25.660 it feels like um duplicitous it feels like an op it feels like um like they're the reason why they

00:20:35.880 bring in some of these guys like matt walsh is to garner and court a catholic and christian base

00:20:44.180 for a larger mission that is israel first or at least israel friendly because the reality is at

00:20:53.700 this point ben shapiro once upon a time was the star at this point you take matt walsh out of the

00:20:59.160 picture daily wire is toast and and that's where like even though matt walsh is still saying a lot

00:21:04.900 of things that are true like his courage to call out like fbi crime statistics being a little

00:21:11.860 disproportional based off of race you know like um he's still exercising some some legitimate courage

00:21:18.960 but at the same time and i appreciate matt walsh i don't i don't mean this disrespectfully i like

00:21:26.160 him um but whether he means to or not he's being used to prop up shapiro it it looks like it yeah

00:21:36.480 and i don't like that and matt walsh to the daily wire is like tucker to fox i i agree i see matt

00:21:43.680 walsh could leave the daily wire and wouldn't wouldn't even skip a beat it'd come on within

00:21:50.400 two days with the mount walsh network now and his first episode and have a larger viewership

00:21:56.420 than he's ever had he could title the first episode so uh so what about the jews

00:22:02.960 you know like and he would get a quadrillion billion views you know what i mean and he could

00:22:08.680 do it respectfully he wouldn't have to come out and be crazy he could do a film called what is

00:22:12.840 a zionist and good night could you imagine it'd be amazing the success so i i agree with you right

00:22:19.900 now matt walsh is he's got a ceiling above his head and it's called the daily wire and i love

00:22:26.780 seeing on twitter because like i so appreciate matt walsh's work and i want the bird to fly

00:22:32.700 free i want him to spread his wings and i really i just notice how silent he is on certain issues

00:22:41.700 you barely get a peep you do once in a while it's a small peep about israel

00:22:47.760 uh very little about thomas massey you just look at you look at that and if he didn't have that

00:22:56.620 ceiling above his head he he would just i mean look at what candace did when she left the daily

00:23:03.400 wire brett cooper it's tucker and fox when you leave a kind of establishment centralized thing

00:23:14.700 and the daily wire has become establishment it's like animal farm where the pigs replace the humans

00:23:20.940 and then they stop start walking on hind legs you know and they become exactly like what they

00:23:25.980 replaced and yeah the daily wire and the blaze um and tp usa like it's kind of just it's like you

00:23:33.900 guys you became the thing that you were supposed to be an alternative for you know when uh you

00:23:40.960 mentioned tp usa wouldn't don't give it all away because i i think that's going to be our next

00:23:46.660 episode okay i'll pick your brain all i'll say is we can tease there might be some scandals at tp usa

00:23:55.060 stay tuned uh these are dripping out once a week on wednesdays at 5 p.m uh eastern time and so

00:24:02.140 today was really focusing on the nature and power of comedy but then i kind of want to get into

00:24:11.080 a little bit of the weeds uh today we talked about the game um next week we're going to talk

00:24:17.360 about some of the players so we did some of that but uh more to come stay tuned

00:24:21.820 america will either have christ or will have chaos for years conservatives believed that

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00:24:32.860 But after Trump, the right is now fractured, exhausted, and losing ground.

00:24:38.940 Endless infighting and electoral losses have exposed a deeper problem that politics alone cannot solve.

00:24:47.540 A nation that rejects Christ cannot be restored by mere personalities, grandstanding, or Christless conservatism.

00:24:56.860 So NXR Studios' first annual conference, America After Trump, brings together pastors, politicians, commentators, and Christians that are committed to strength, cooperation, and a durable future for the American right.

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The NXR Podcast - July 01, 2026

THE SPECIAL - Why Ben Shapiro Has Never Been Cancelled

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