The ideological civil war inside the conservative movement exploded on the AmericaFest stage Friday night when Steve Bannon unloaded on Ben Shapiro, accusing him of being of being Israel First and anti-MAGA, and aligned with foreign interests that seek to colonize and subjugate America.
Bannon’s blistering takedown capped a chaotic, multi-day feud at Turning Point USA’s annual AmericaFest, where Shapiro had spoken the night before.
During his Thursday address, Shapiro castigated conservatives who declined to publicly condemn Candice Owens, saying their silence amounted to “cowardice,” and widened the blast radius by swiping at Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson, and Steve Bannon as well.
“Ben Shapiro is like a cancer, and that cancer spreads,” said Bannon. “It’s a cancer and it metastasizes.
“He tried to take over Breitbart and I ran him out of there. He tried to take over David Horowitz, who was his mentor.
“Mark my word. He will make a move on Turning Point because he’s always been envious of Charlie Kirk.
“This is not about speech. It’s not about de-platforming.
“This is about power politics and what Charlie Kirk believed in to the core of his being, that America makes decisions for America and Americans make decisions for America. That was Charlie Kirk.”