00:00:58.540This is episode four of a five-part series between myself and J.P. Sears. If you have
00:01:10.940stuck with us throughout this series, they're dropping once per week on Wednesdays at 5 p.m.
00:01:16.200Eastern Time, part three, the immediate prior episode to today. We talked about the power
00:01:23.620and nature of comedy. We said that the nature of comedy is inherently transgressive, meaning that
00:01:31.620the true comedian is going to be willing to cross a line, transgress, call balls and strikes, as JP
00:01:39.480often says, and he's willing to do it wherever those balls and strikes can be found. He's willing
00:01:45.320to be a bipartisan comedian because his commitment is not to a person like Trump, but to a concept
00:01:52.840like truth. And so one of the signs of the comedian is his willingness to critique his own
00:01:59.580team. He's willing to be canceled by his own side. Well, we talked about that in theory,
00:02:07.780right? The 30,000-foot view in episode three, what the comedian does. He's the little kid
00:02:14.600in the middle of the mob, the crowd, that's willing to say out loud and point, say that
00:02:21.040the emperor has no clothes. And so today, what we want to do is kind of take the principle
00:02:27.400of what we espoused and laid out in episode three. Now in episode four, we want to give the case
00:02:33.640study, an example on the alternate side of who is not willing to do that, who is not willing to
00:02:44.180transgress, to actually critique, to follow the truth wherever it leads, who is the person that
00:02:54.100no matter how bad things might be, like 2020 through 2024, high watermark of the left where
00:03:01.520guys on the conservative side of the aisle are being canceled, left and right, people are being
00:03:06.540demonetized. People are being de-platformed. Algorithms are suppressing and silencing and
00:03:13.900canceling people. And yet, mysteriously, Ben Shapiro, conservative of all conservatives,
00:03:23.760is able to navigate those waters without being canceled, without losing his YouTube channel,
00:03:30.360with still staying on the air it's not a coincidence actually um it's because he never
00:03:38.740really transgressed never really canceled because he never really was courageous that's what we're
00:03:47.540going to be talking about in today's episode my point is each one of these guys whereas if you0.94
00:03:53.280think in those terms like who was willing to pay a cost yeah at least some cost who was willing to
00:04:00.060transgress their own side who is willing to self-deprecate their team not just the the
00:04:06.560opposing team but their own team who is willing to do that uh and and then by proxy um perhaps
00:04:13.800an even more uh insightful or revealing question um who was not so ben shapiro conservative of
00:04:23.060all conservatives has has ben shapiro ever really trans like has he really ever paid a serious cost
00:04:31.820because you think oh he stood for truth and like okay but let's just be honest for a second go
00:04:37.980down memory lane 2020 to 2024 some of the darkest years in in living memory in our lifetime
00:04:45.280politically culturally here in these united states um was he getting criticism yes he was
00:04:53.040um but people were getting like they were losing their youtube channels social media
00:04:58.740left and right like all over the place the daily wire was putting up millions of views this is
00:05:05.460kind of like their their heyday yeah right like i mean that you know the mighty have fallen
00:05:09.660quite a bit but but this was like daily wire you know ben shapiro jeremy boring like it's just
00:05:17.160hit after hit and part of it is you know they were doing some good work like i don't want to
00:05:23.780throw the baby out with the bath water so it's like you got to be able to critique yourself
00:05:27.580critique your own team uh you also need to be able to um admit um the successes of people even
00:05:34.760if you eventually come to disagree with them like i don't have to rewrite history because
00:05:39.100that's dishonest there were some moments where uh the daily wire was a breath of fresh air yeah
00:05:45.760i agree praise god you know and uh you know 2020 i was listening to a decent amount of daily wire
00:05:53.900now i kind of look back now and i'm and i'm like you know like the hardest part of of that year of
00:06:01.520listening to that much daily wire was you know having to tell my dad that i'm gay you know so
00:06:05.340So like, you know, so like there were, you know, there's some drawbacks, but I still have to admit
00:06:08.580the truth that at that time I was, I was enjoying some daily wire. Here's the point. Even though
00:06:16.260Ben Shapiro was willing to do some things that garnered criticism, he never really crossed the
00:06:22.300Tiber or the Rubicon, the Tiber, that would be like a Catholic thing, but Caesar crossing the
00:06:28.880Rubicon, that true transgressive moment. Like, so how did the daily wire succeed? Well, part of it,
00:06:34.700they were doing some good content part of it also like how did um silly uh illustration but
00:06:40.000how did Bubba Gump shrimp become multi-millionaires you know if you ever watch Forrest Gump uh well
00:06:46.700part of it was where they they were just the best shrimpers and they knew where the shrimp could be
00:06:51.840no it was all the other shrimp boats got wrecked yeah in a big hurricane and they were like the
00:06:58.440only boat that was still in operation and so then all of a sudden there's zero competition and they
00:07:04.000clean up shop and and get all the shrimp and boom bubble gum shrimp rich um one of the ways that the
00:07:11.420daily wire became so successful is they they did some things with excellence they had some great
00:07:16.940marketing great branding leftist tears you know and jeremy's razors and they they did they hit
00:07:23.900some of those moments and they were they were prompt they were sharp um and and pretty good
00:07:29.540branding timely and and done with excellence but don't forget one other pretty pretty strong
00:07:39.320contribution to their success a lot of their competition during those years high like like
00:07:46.420the the the pinnacle of power for the left those four years 2020 through 2024 a lot of the daily
00:07:53.980wires competition a lot of other people on the conservative side were demonetized yeah defrocked
00:08:01.720deplatformed one of the biggest challenges to eating healthy is having quality food available
00:08:07.220when you're on the go that's why i want to tell you about our sponsor today paleo valley they're
00:08:12.760100 grass-fed beef sticks these aren't your typical gas station meat sticks loaded with
00:08:19.300terrible ingredients. Paleo Valley's beef sticks are made from 100% grass-fed and grass-finished
00:08:26.560beef packed with protein and made with simple ingredients you can actually feel good about
00:08:32.540eating. They're perfect for road trips, long work days, post-workout fuel, or just keeping
00:08:39.140a healthy snack nearby so that you're not reaching for junk food when you're hungry.
00:08:44.160My family loves them. They're convenient and they're a great way to get quality protein
00:08:49.960wherever you are. If you'd like to give them a try, then go to the link in the description
00:08:55.020of this video and use promo code NXR26 to get 15% off of your order of Paleo Valley
00:09:04.680Beef Sticks today. Again, the promo code is NXR26 for 15% off. Use the link in the description for
00:09:14.680this episode. That's Paleo Valley Beef Sticks. Real food, quality ingredients, and a snack that
00:09:21.180you can feel good about feeding to your family. Like Nick Fuentes. I'll just, you know, I'll just
00:09:28.700use him as an example. So you don't have to agree with everything that Nick says. You don't have to
00:09:33.400agree with anything that Nick says. I like Nick Fuentes. I have my disagreement. He's a Catholic.
00:09:38.200I'm a Protestant, right? So there's things that I disagree with, but I like him and I appreciate
00:09:43.500his courage, if nothing else. And there's more than that, but that one for sure. I appreciate
00:09:48.980his courage. And people are like, well, you know, sure, Nick, you know, he can throw up a live
00:09:54.640stream on a Tuesday night at 1 a.m. and have 200,000 views, you know, and 40,000 live viewers.
00:10:01.380and that's impressive but you know but he's not like uh joe rogan and i appreciate joe rogan too
00:10:06.800or he's not like tucker carlson and i really appreciate tucker carlson too but let's be
00:10:11.300honest for a moment um nick is competing with both of his hands tied behind his back like love
00:10:18.880him or hate him say what you will but um we always forget this nick still can't have a youtube channel
00:10:25.480you know he's throwing these views up on rumble you know what i mean nick still can't get a blue
00:10:31.640check on twitter he was barely let back on by elon that that poll was taken elon you know
00:10:36.620elon's um for better for worse i like elon you know in general there's some things i don't like
00:10:42.320but for better for worse he's a big democracy fan yeah so he's like the voice of the people
00:10:46.220the voice of god you know whereas i'm kind of like i understand populism and i i appreciate
00:10:52.140as far as it goes but sometimes the voice of the people is like just the voice of a lot of0.98
00:10:56.180retarded people you know so like the people people can be stupid yeah they're not always right but0.98
00:11:00.540anyways but that's that's kind of elon's guiding force is um and the people spoke you know he held0.99
00:11:06.280his poll and you know thousands and thousands of votes and it was majority vote was for letting
00:11:11.360nick back on twitter but still he has still not been allowed to be a verified account with a
00:11:17.340check mark um and and so my point is this um the daily wire mostly ben shapiro right because i don't
00:11:26.300think it's fair to say you know across the board michael knowles matt walsh all of them but
00:11:31.640mainly ben shapiro um yeah he got criticism no doubt but um ben shapiro was never uh demonetized
00:11:43.160or at least deplatformed kicked off of youtube or this out of the other kicked off of facebook
00:11:47.860um for a long prolonged period of time when many other content creators on the right were
00:11:55.180and part of the success of the daily wire was um being able to garner a monopoly
00:12:02.280a conservative monopoly the bubba gum shrimp uh strategy when all the other boats got wrecked
00:12:09.800And so you can think like, well, how, how did they do that?
00:12:13.780How could they be conservative like everyone else,
00:12:17.120but not have to pay the consequences when everybody else did?
00:12:21.520And of course the answer is that they weren't conservative like everyone else.
00:12:25.200Ben Shapiro looking back, you know, and you got your, your, I'm a conservative,
00:12:29.320PragerU libertarian conservative goggles on, you know, at the time, 2020.
00:12:34.800But looking back with a little bit more clarity and hindsight, which is 2020,
00:12:38.820not the year but clarity ben shapiro was pushing for people to get the vax amen ben shapiro was
00:12:47.980not really that outspoken about the blm riots you know ben shapiro like in other words on all the
00:12:54.460major issues so generally conservative but on the major dogmas the things you're not allowed to
00:13:01.320transgress ben shapiro followed the rules yeah he followed the rules and he was rewarded handsomely
00:13:08.380he's now finally the consequences are catching up to him because people are like oh actually
00:13:14.220you're not really courageous yeah you know uh he's never told the dangerous truths
00:13:21.980that need to be said but aren't being said that's right i think when when like 2020 you know during
00:13:31.740the height of daily wire getting to as big as they were, it appeared as though they were
00:13:38.740telling dangerous truths as they were just speaking basic conservatism. And that appeared
00:13:45.200dangerous because it was rare. Right. None of the mainstream media, a lot of the conservative
00:13:51.760voices today weren't conservative voices then because they didn't have a reason to be like,
00:13:58.420i didn't know i was conservative until starting 2020 and it's like oh cool i right so some people
00:14:05.040it was just their personal journey they red-pilled later and then other people were actually
00:14:09.360conservative but the reason why the daily wire got so much credit is because the most conservative
00:14:14.220voices there were conservative people then but you couldn't hear them because the truly conservative
00:14:19.300people back then were all canceled that's a huge part they were censored but telling the you know
00:14:26.240safe talking about the safe stuff i think it was even back in 2016 ben shapiro was writing
00:14:34.100anti-trump stuff not that he was supporting hillary clinton but like trump's not good
00:14:39.500then even before the 2024 election he's we're going to santis not trump right you're right
00:14:48.040and you watch him he's flip-flopped on that and to me the biggest one is what you mentioned
00:14:53.480ben shapiro was advocating for vaccines a hundred percent not just not speaking out against them
00:15:01.560that's right but advocating for them very very safe he gave some qualifiers because i want to
00:15:10.440be honest he gave i remember he gave some qualifiers of like you know and and maybe
00:15:16.380maybe children you know like he said that i know he said that children maybe don't need the vaccine
00:15:21.740but um but he he wasn't just saying you know 75 year olds need it yeah but he was talking about
00:15:28.520how him and his wife like i remember him advocating specifically for perfectly healthy people in their
00:15:35.56030s getting the vaccine if you're going to be around elderly people i mean he's like and so
00:15:41.900you know my parents are a part of our lives so we're getting the back so he he didn't advocate
00:15:46.020for the five-year-old getting it to be fair but he was advocating for 35 year olds to get it and
00:15:52.400and it is good and fair of you to point that out yet advocating for 35 year olds to get it
00:15:59.700is insane to me as well 35 year olds are now dropping dead yeah just from a sudden adult
00:16:07.840death syndrome we don't know what causes it we're going to move on the how it also to be fair one
00:16:14.660thing, well, I think probably many things, I think for the most part, aside from like Trump
00:16:21.140and flip-flopping on him, Ben Shapiro has just kind of been himself, not a courageous guy
00:16:28.320telling dangerous truths, but just walking this safe line. And if you look at what is making Ben
00:16:37.240Shapiro repel viewers it's not a new perspective you know pro-Israel at all costs granted now he's
00:16:46.320saying that message louder and more frequently but it's not a new message of his so yeah you
00:16:54.080got to be fair like you've been consistent all along but the enemy has changed yeah but to be
00:16:58.820fair so the point you're making is if I hear you correctly is Ben Shapiro has also been consistent
00:17:03.860all along. He's being principled on Israel. It's not a principle I agree with or that I think is
00:17:09.840accurate, but I will give him credit for that. Like if he were to just sell out, he might've
00:17:15.540sold out in other ways. I don't know. But if he were to just sell out, he'd sit down in a meeting
00:17:20.120and be like, Hey Ben, the more you talk about Israel, the more you're just losing viewers.
00:17:26.880Look at these, look at all these numbers. It's terrible. You don't have to be against Israel.
00:17:33.160just stop talking about it. And if Ben Shapiro were to sell out, he'd say, okay, I'll stop talking
00:17:38.640about it, but it's important to him. And he still talks about it. So I, I admire that. I don't
00:17:46.580admire the message, but I admire like, wow, I believe in this thing is consistent. Even if I
00:17:52.860lose viewers, I'll keep talking about it. So, um, I will give him credit for that as well. And by
00:17:59.960the way we're talking about humor if anyone were to need a little sense of humor upgrade joel uh0.95
00:18:06.540shapiro could we use it i find i i have to point this out i'm being a complete asshole while i do
00:18:13.080it there's been some i'm sure it came from some producer idea the daily wire but they've tried
00:18:21.900to do some videos where they like frame ben as a funny guy right like ben laughs at whatever
00:18:29.160movie or ben and you know you see him on the thumbnail laughing or whatever it is i don't
00:18:36.080know if he actually has a sense of humor but just like guys don't try to bring it's not believable
00:18:42.280humor guy right and maybe it's kind of like ron desantis i like ron desantis but optically he
00:18:48.580just didn't play he's cardboard yeah exactly so he's i think ron desantis is probably a great guy
00:18:53.920yeah you know um but optic is yeah just just based off of strategy alone yeah probably shouldn't sell
00:19:02.100ben shapiro as a comedic genius but also if i could uh giving credit where credit's due while
00:19:10.040we're talking about how ben shapiro we haven't really seen exemplified courage from him the
00:19:15.960daily wire has been smart enough to get other people that exemplify courage for example matt
00:19:22.780walsh when he did uh uh what is a woman that was very transgressive especially at that time
00:19:30.200he was saying in the biggest boldest way the thing you're not allowed to say so credit for them for
00:19:39.140recruiting personalities i think jordan peterson they uh you know got to capitalize a bit on his
00:19:46.480courage some of candace's courage and um but as far as in good for the daily wire to use them
00:19:54.900while they lasted but as far as ben shapiro it's like yeah i i understand why people are repelled
00:20:02.520right it is good on them in terms of just good business strategy in terms of it being morally
00:20:09.400good and i know you're not saying that i personally without trying to be hyperbolic
00:20:16.620and just speaking plainly without emotion i really do um i can't prove it objectively but i really
00:20:25.660it feels like um duplicitous it feels like an op it feels like um like they're the reason why they
00:20:35.880bring in some of these guys like matt walsh is to garner and court a catholic and christian base
00:20:44.180for a larger mission that is israel first or at least israel friendly because the reality is at
00:20:53.700this point ben shapiro once upon a time was the star at this point you take matt walsh out of the
00:20:59.160picture daily wire is toast and and that's where like even though matt walsh is still saying a lot
00:21:04.900of things that are true like his courage to call out like fbi crime statistics being a little
00:21:11.860disproportional based off of race you know like um he's still exercising some some legitimate courage
00:21:18.960but at the same time and i appreciate matt walsh i don't i don't mean this disrespectfully i like
00:21:26.160him um but whether he means to or not he's being used to prop up shapiro it it looks like it yeah
00:21:36.480and i don't like that and matt walsh to the daily wire is like tucker to fox i i agree i see matt
00:21:43.680walsh could leave the daily wire and wouldn't wouldn't even skip a beat it'd come on within
00:21:50.400two days with the mount walsh network now and his first episode and have a larger viewership
00:21:56.420than he's ever had he could title the first episode so uh so what about the jews
00:22:02.960you know like and he would get a quadrillion billion views you know what i mean and he could
00:22:08.680do it respectfully he wouldn't have to come out and be crazy he could do a film called what is
00:22:12.840a zionist and good night could you imagine it'd be amazing the success so i i agree with you right
00:22:19.900now matt walsh is he's got a ceiling above his head and it's called the daily wire and i love
00:22:26.780seeing on twitter because like i so appreciate matt walsh's work and i want the bird to fly
00:22:32.700free i want him to spread his wings and i really i just notice how silent he is on certain issues
00:22:41.700you barely get a peep you do once in a while it's a small peep about israel
00:22:47.760uh very little about thomas massey you just look at you look at that and if he didn't have that
00:22:56.620ceiling above his head he he would just i mean look at what candace did when she left the daily
00:23:03.400wire brett cooper it's tucker and fox when you leave a kind of establishment centralized thing
00:23:14.700and the daily wire has become establishment it's like animal farm where the pigs replace the humans
00:23:20.940and then they stop start walking on hind legs you know and they become exactly like what they
00:23:25.980replaced and yeah the daily wire and the blaze um and tp usa like it's kind of just it's like you
00:23:33.900guys you became the thing that you were supposed to be an alternative for you know when uh you
00:23:40.960mentioned tp usa wouldn't don't give it all away because i i think that's going to be our next
00:23:46.660episode okay i'll pick your brain all i'll say is we can tease there might be some scandals at tp usa
00:23:55.060stay tuned uh these are dripping out once a week on wednesdays at 5 p.m uh eastern time and so
00:24:02.140today was really focusing on the nature and power of comedy but then i kind of want to get into
00:24:11.080a little bit of the weeds uh today we talked about the game um next week we're going to talk
00:24:17.360about some of the players so we did some of that but uh more to come stay tuned
00:24:21.820america will either have christ or will have chaos for years conservatives believed that
00:24:30.760Trump could reverse America's decline.
00:24:32.860But after Trump, the right is now fractured, exhausted, and losing ground.
00:24:38.940Endless infighting and electoral losses have exposed a deeper problem that politics alone cannot solve.
00:24:47.540A nation that rejects Christ cannot be restored by mere personalities, grandstanding, or Christless conservatism.
00:24:56.860So 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.
00:25:14.500Complaining is not a strategy, and despair cannot be an option.