Ben Shapiro And Tucker Carlson Clash At TPUSA’s America Fest

There was plenty of fireworks at TPUSA’s America Fest opening night and I’m not just talking about the pyrotechnics on the stage.

America Fest kick off on Thursday night marking the first major conference TPUSA has conducted without its founder the late Charlie Kirk.

One of the keynote speakers of the event was Ben Shapiro who spent the majority of his speech ripping on conservative commentators.

One of the biggest conservative figures Shapiro took jabs at was Tucker Carlson.

Fox News reported more on Ben Shapiro’s remarks at the long anticipated conference:

Conservative radio host Ben Shapiro called out what he described as “frauds and grifters” who pose a threat to the conservative movement, including Tucker Carlson, during his speech at AmericaFest 2025 on Thursday.

Shapiro opened his remarks at the Turning Point USA conference in Phoenix by denouncing figures like Carlson and Candace Owens, accusing them of undermining conservative principles.

“Today the conservative movement is in serious danger, not just from the left that all too frequently excuses everything up to and including murder,” Shapiro said. “The conservative movement is also in danger from charlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle but actually traffic in conspiracism and dishonesty, who offer nothing but bile and despair, who seek to undermine fundamental principles of conservatism by championing aggravation and grievance. These people are frauds, and they are grifters, and they do not deserve your time.”

While acknowledging that Carlson was also scheduled to speak at the conference later that night, The Daily Wire co-founder said commentators such as Carlson were “guilty of cowardice” for staying silent as Owens spread conspiracy theories regarding Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

“The fact that they have said nothing while Candace has been vomiting all sorts of hideous and conspiratorial nonsense to the public square for years is just as cowardly,” Shapiro said.

He also criticized Carlson’s methods as “lazy, stupid and misleading” for implying insider knowledge but refusing to show evidence under the guise of asking questions.

“Our duty to provide you evidence means we actually have to do more than just ask questions,” Shapiro said. “Just asking questions is something my five-year-old does. And it’s really cute when it comes from my five-year-old, but when grown men and women spend their days ‘just asking questions’ without, you know, seeking answers, they are lying to you. In fact, they’re doing something even worse. They’re seeding distrust in the world around you, and they are enervating you in the process.”

He urged Carlson to take responsibility for platforming controversial guests like White nationalist Nick Fuentes while not condemning or questioning their positions.

Here are some clips:

Original X post:

BREAKING: Ben Shapiro directly calls out Tucker Carlson at TPUSA Amfest and receives a roaring applause from the crowd.

Notice how Ben uses facts to go after Tucker, but Tucker just uses ad-hominem attacks.
pic.twitter.com/sd1Dq9M8q0

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) December 19, 2025

Ben Shapiro slams Candace Owens, Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson; defends Trump and others.

Love him or hate him, this was fire.

pic.twitter.com/p5I7vTWVq5

— Pino Americano (@PinoAmericano) December 19, 2025

Here was Shapiro’s full speech:

🚨 Ben Shapiro goes SCORCHED EARTH at TPUSA on “frauds”, “grifters”, and “charlatans” Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens

He blasts Megyn Kelly for her “cowardice” for refusing to stand up for the truth and condemn Candace’s conspiracy theories and lies

Watch every second of this pic.twitter.com/j7LvZFBDJN

— Ryan Saavedra (@RyanSaavedra) December 19, 2025

Mediaite reported on Tucker Carlson response to Shapiro:

Carlson responded to Shapiro’s attack in his own speech later on Thursday evening.

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“I just got here, and I feel like I missed the first part of the program. Hope I didn’t miss anything meaningful,” mocked Carlson. “I don’t think I did. No, I’m just kidding, I watched it. I laughed.”

He continued, “To hear calls for like deplatforming and denouncing people at a Charlie Kirk event, I’m like, what?! That’s hilarious,” adding:

The whole like Red Guard Cultural Revolution thing that we so hated and feared on the left, that we did everything we could to usher in a new time where you could have an actual debate, I mean this kind of was the whole point of Charlie Kirk’s public life and I think that he died for it. I really believe that. And I know a lot about it because the last several months of Charlie’s life were devoted in part to arguing about this event, in fact this speech, in fact my speech here, which he asked me to do earlier this year, this Summer, and was immediately put under just immense pressure from people who give money to Turning Point – I would assume good people – but who wanted him to take me off the roster.

Pointing out that “Charlie stood firm in his often-stated and deeply-held belief that people should be able to debate,” Carlson responded to Shapiro’s criticism by concluding, “I kind of thought we’d reached the end of that [cancel culture], and as far as I’m concerned, we have, and I’m not gonna play by those rules. I’m not gonna engage in that.”

Watch Tucker’s response here:

Tucker Carlson totally upstaged Ben Shapiro—very mature, well articulated response after Shapiro called for Tucker to be denounced on AmFest stage. Really poor use of his platform. That’s not what Charlie would’ve wanted. We’re better than this.pic.twitter.com/g0x7Edonnu

— William Branson Donahue (@realwilldonahue) December 19, 2025

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