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Thoughts on Ben Shapiro? (1 Viewer)

That was a really weird interview.  Everything was going along just fine, and then Shapiro just snapped for apparently no reason.  The abortion question that set him off wasn't particularly noteworthy and should have been easy to address if you're fluent on the issue. 

 
That was a really weird interview.  Everything was going along just fine, and then Shapiro just snapped for apparently no reason.  The abortion question that set him off wasn't particularly noteworthy and should have been easy to address if you're fluent on the issue. 
Publicity stunt?

 
From what I've seen the Brits have a higher quality of serious journalism. I think Shapiro has just been made soft by whacking away at far left pincushions and living soft in the far right bubble. the BBC appears to be under the impression they're doing journalism not entertainment.

 
From what I've seen the Brits have a higher quality of serious journalism. I think Shapiro has just been made soft by whacking away at far left pincushions and living soft in the far right bubble. the BBC appears to be under the impression they're doing journalism not entertainment.
He doesn’t know it’s a damn show. He thinks it’s a damn fight! 

 
I know mostly of Shapiro from an episode when he was on Rogan.

I watched the interview and thought he was fine. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/443138-ben-shapiro-ends-bbc-interview-scolds-host-im-popular-and-no-one-has-ever .  Clearly it wasn't intended to be an interview but pulling old stuff out of context and having him defend it. 

For sure he'd do better dropping the "I've never heard of you" shtick which can only come off as lame. Same for the BBC host who said the same. (I'm not sure how it would be possible he work in political broadcasting and never have heard of Shapiro but whatever). All in all, I'd call this nothing. If anything, something to rally his fans with how unfairly he's treated in an interview that would hopefully be less biased. :shrug:  

 
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I know mostly of Shapiro from an episode when he was on Rogan.

I watched the interview and thought he was fine. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/443138-ben-shapiro-ends-bbc-interview-scolds-host-im-popular-and-no-one-has-ever .  Clearly it wasn't intended to be an interview but pulling old stuff out of context and having him defend it. 

For sure he'd do better dropping the "I've never heard of you" shtick which can only come off as lame. Same for the BBC host who said the same. (I'm not sure how it would be possible he work in political broadcasting and never have heard of Shapiro but whatever). All in all, I'd call this nothing. If anything, something to rally his fans with how unfairly he's treated in an interview that would hopefully be less biased. :shrug:  
How is it biased to ask him about things he supports and things he wrote in his book? And that guy is basically one of the most conservative people in the UK. The BBC constantly gets flack for having him on their programming due to his right leaning bias. Saying he's biased against conservatives is kind of laughable.

 
I know mostly of Shapiro from an episode when he was on Rogan.

I watched the interview and thought he was fine. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/443138-ben-shapiro-ends-bbc-interview-scolds-host-im-popular-and-no-one-has-ever .  Clearly it wasn't intended to be an interview but pulling old stuff out of context and having him defend it. 

For sure he'd do better dropping the "I've never heard of you" shtick which can only come off as lame. Same for the BBC host who said the same. (I'm not sure how it would be possible he work in political broadcasting and never have heard of Shapiro but whatever). All in all, I'd call this nothing. If anything, something to rally his fans with how unfairly he's treated in an interview that would hopefully be less biased. :shrug:  
I doubt the name Ben Shapiro is known world wide. Hell, I'd bet most of the people in Mexico or Canada have heard of him. Shapiro is definitely not on the upper echelon of world wide political figures. He has a podcast and a Youtube channel. He is on tv once in a while and get exposure through Youtube views. What British citizen, Mexican citizen or even American is going to seek out Ben Shapiro?

He has 2 million following him on Twitter. 700k on YouTube. He is a grain of sand in a large hourglass.

 
I know mostly of Shapiro from an episode when he was on Rogan.

I watched the interview and thought he was fine. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/443138-ben-shapiro-ends-bbc-interview-scolds-host-im-popular-and-no-one-has-ever .  Clearly it wasn't intended to be an interview but pulling old stuff out of context and having him defend it. 

For sure he'd do better dropping the "I've never heard of you" shtick which can only come off as lame. Same for the BBC host who said the same. (I'm not sure how it would be possible he work in political broadcasting and never have heard of Shapiro but whatever). All in all, I'd call this nothing. If anything, something to rally his fans with how unfairly he's treated in an interview that would hopefully be less biased. :shrug:  
Shapiro came off, to me, as defensive/on-edge through most of that interview.

He did comment on Twitter and said he was not prepared, etc. and lost the debate (although interesting he framed an interview that way).

I didn't like the line of "I've never heard of you..."...sounds like a childish way to not address questions/debate.

I've seen him in other forums and he comes across as highly intelligent and wiling to debate the other side. He had a really conversation on his podcast recently with Andrew Yang.

Yang Interview W/Shapiro

Overall, this would not be a good impression for him though.

 
How is it biased to ask him about things he supports and things he wrote in his book? And that guy is basically one of the most conservative people in the UK. The BBC constantly gets flack for having him on their programming due to his right leaning bias. Saying he's biased against conservatives is kind of laughable.
My guess is that he was being asked about things he said 10-15 years ago vs. what was in the book.

 
No. He took off his mike and ended the interview.
Shapiro goes after what he sees as liberal bias. He recently did an interview (can't recall which website) and he was described as part of the alt-right, which made Shapiro loose his head. 

He also has gone after the media for defending some of the comments made as anti-Jewish, etc.

 
He had a bad day. It happens. Good on him for owning up to it.

I think he realized after googling the host after the interview that his accusation of bias was out of line and silly.

 
My guess is that he was being asked about things he said 10-15 years ago vs. what was in the book.
He was asked what were the new plans coming from the right and he couldn't name one. He was asked about the 6 week abortion ban and attached laws like prosecuting women that go to another state that's when the freakout started, he was asked about something in his book and that's when he walked. So as far as I saw your guess wouldn't be accurate. Shapiro is an intellectual lightweight. Even Rogan ran him in circles as I recall. If this is the rights new intelligentsia they're in trouble.

 
Suprised anyone would think Shapiro came off OK here. Even Shapiro thought it was a bad showing. And to his credit he owned up to it in the tweet that I linked. He did not couch it as an example of his being unfairly treated but rather as his being unprepared.

 
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He was asked what were the new plans coming from the right and he couldn't name one. He was asked about the 6 week abortion ban and attached laws like prosecuting women that go to another state that's when the freakout started, he was asked about something in his book and that's when he walked. So as far as I saw your guess wouldn't be accurate. Shapiro is an intellectual lightweight. Even Rogan ran him in circles as I recall. If this is the rights new intelligentsia they're in trouble.
He's definitely not an intellectual lightweight even taking into account this poor showing. I don't think he liked questions about things he has said in the past, plus his incorrect view that was a liberal doing so. Clearly, the interview started badly for Shapiro and he never recovered. Bad moment, but you couldn't be more wrong in your assessment of his intelligence from my previous times hearing him.

 
He's definitely not an intellectual lightweight even taking into account this poor showing. I don't think he liked questions about things he has said in the past, plus his incorrect view that was a liberal doing so. Clearly, the interview started badly for Shapiro and he never recovered. Bad moment, but you couldn't be more wrong in your assessment of his intelligence from my previous times hearing him.
All I hear is a guy who talks fast and says little. What I saw was a guy who doesn't get challenged much and couldn't handle it when he was. Not impressed. 

 
How is it biased to ask him about things he supports and things he wrote in his book? And that guy is basically one of the most conservative people in the UK. The BBC constantly gets flack for having him on their programming due to his right leaning bias. Saying he's biased against conservatives is kind of laughable.
Yeah, i don’t get the idea that Shapiro should get a free pass for blatantly racist comments from 10 years ago.  He’s obviously free to say what he wants, but he makes his bones as a talking head, and part of that gig is you should have to own your past.  At least it should be.  

 
I haven’t seen him on TV/YT in any context except arguing against air either by himself or with a sympathetic tag team partner. Are there videos where he does debate against opponents? 

 
My guess is that he was being asked about things he said 10-15 years ago vs. what was in the book.
The BBC journalist asked him about the brand new Georgia abortion law and said he asks tough questions of his guests regardless of their politics and that’s what caused Shapiro to snap. 

Shapiro goes after what he sees as liberal bias. He recently did an interview (can't recall which website) and he was described as part of the alt-right, which made Shapiro loose his head. 

He also has gone after the media for defending some of the comments made as anti-Jewish, etc.
The instant the journalist asked him a challenging question about abortion and used one tough language, Shapiro dismissed the entire interview as a liberal gotcha  trap. He seems to have plenty of his own biases he needs to deal with.

 
I haven’t seen him on TV/YT in any context except arguing against air either by himself or with a sympathetic tag team partner. Are there videos where he does debate against opponents? 
He’s debated Cenk and it’s readily available on YouTube.  Cenk looks like an idiot, mostly because Cenk is an idiot.

ETA.  I believe that some of the quotes that were brought up were quotes from 10 years ago that Shapiro himself has pointed out as “Dumb things I’ve said” or something like that.  He has a running tally of mistakes he’s made over the years.  I’d be annoyed if someone brought up a mistake I mad and owned up to years ago.  It’s not really relevant to current discussion.  

 
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The BBC journalist asked him about the brand new Georgia abortion law and said he asks tough questions of his guests regardless of their politics and that’s what caused Shapiro to snap. 

The instant the journalist asked him a challenging question about abortion and used one tough language, Shapiro dismissed the entire interview as a liberal gotcha  trap. He seems to have plenty of his own biases he needs to deal with.
And he would know ‘gotcha traps’ because that’s his entire brand.

 
He’s debated Cenk and it’s readily available on YouTube.  Cenk looks like an idiot, mostly because Cenk is an idiot.

ETA.  I believe that some of the quotes that were brought up were quotes from 10 years ago that Shapiro himself has pointed out as “Dumb things I’ve said” or something like that.  He has a running tally of mistakes he’s made over the years.  I’d be annoyed if someone brought up a mistake I mad and owned up to years ago.  It’s not really relevant to current discussion.  
The interview turned when he asked about the Georgia abortion law and referred to it as barbaric. Shapiro refused to believe the interviewer was anything but a liberal. 

I’ll check out the conversation you referred to.

 
The interview turned when he asked about the Georgia abortion law and referred to it as barbaric. Shapiro refused to believe the interviewer was anything but a liberal. 

I’ll check out the conversation you referred to.
Right I don’t give him a pass on it (and I don’t think he gives himself one either).  Just saying, the outburst or whatever was precluded by the interviewer bringing up other quotes that Shapiro himself has publicly stated he regrets saying as much as a decade ago.  What is the goal of re-litigating them?  

 
I know mostly of Shapiro from an episode when he was on Rogan.

I watched the interview and thought he was fine. https://thehill.com/homenews/media/443138-ben-shapiro-ends-bbc-interview-scolds-host-im-popular-and-no-one-has-ever .  Clearly it wasn't intended to be an interview but pulling old stuff out of context and having him defend it. 

For sure he'd do better dropping the "I've never heard of you" shtick which can only come off as lame. Same for the BBC host who said the same. (I'm not sure how it would be possible he work in political broadcasting and never have heard of Shapiro but whatever). All in all, I'd call this nothing. If anything, something to rally his fans with how unfairly he's treated in an interview that would hopefully be less biased. :shrug:  
I am a big fan of Shapiro and thought he came off terrible. 

 
Right I don’t give him a pass on it (and I don’t think he gives himself one either).  Just saying, the outburst or whatever was precluded by the interviewer bringing up other quotes that Shapiro himself has publicly stated he regrets saying as much as a decade ago.  What is the goal of re-litigating them?  
The point was that Shapiro just wrote a book calling for more civility and less divisiveness in the public discourse, so the host was asking him about his own past uncivil, divisive statements.

The questions were only “gotchas” if they were unanticipated, but it’s hard to imagine how they could have been a surprise. They’re obvious enough that Shapiro should have pat answers to them at the ready.

 
Right I don’t give him a pass on it (and I don’t think he gives himself one either).  Just saying, the outburst or whatever was precluded by the interviewer bringing up other quotes that Shapiro himself has publicly stated he regrets saying as much as a decade ago.  What is the goal of re-litigating them?  
Maybe I need to rewatch it, I wasn’t paying full attention. I didn’t think any old statements were brought up before Shapiro shifted into “you are a liberal and the interviewer is politically biased against me”

 
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Right I don’t give him a pass on it (and I don’t think he gives himself one either).  Just saying, the outburst or whatever was precluded by the interviewer bringing up other quotes that Shapiro himself has publicly stated he regrets saying as much as a decade ago.  What is the goal of re-litigating them?  
It's less about re-litigating the past and more about questioning and clarifying his current positions and motives.

If you claim to "regret" what you said in the past, then an interviewer has a right (if not an obligation) to ask why. Do you merely regret the fact that you said it in public? Do you merely regret the fact that your comments were unpopular? Are you only claiming to "regret" something because you're afraid to answer tough questions? Do you actually disavow the things that you said? Are you merely pretending to regret your past statements because they're not compatible with the theme of your new book?

These are the types of questions that come with the territory. Shapiro acts like he's above scrutiny, which is a bizarre position for a guy whose trademark is to scrutinize and expose the logical flaws in others.

Sorry, but public figures don't get to wave their hand and pretend that their past actions never happened. The moment Shapiro tries to do that is the moment that he becomes exactly what he and his supporters claim to hate.

 
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Ben “Israelis like to build. Arabs like to bomb crap and live in open sewage. This is not a difficult issue. #settlementsrock” Shapiro’s thing is mainlining hardcore Zionism and unblinking support for Israel into mainstream conservative politics. 

This belief system hinges on the notion that Arabs are incapable of civilized culture, and therefore fit to be bombed back to the Stone Age and ethnically cleansed.  

So xenophobic bigotry against Arabs, JudeoChristian supremacy over Islam, and his pretend belief in free speech which goes in the dumpster the second college students start talking about BDS, are counterculture IDW woke conservativism now.  Thanks Ben 

 
Yeah, i don’t get the idea that Shapiro should get a free pass for blatantly racist comments from 10 years ago.  He’s obviously free to say what he wants, but he makes his bones as a talking head, and part of that gig is you should have to own your past.  At least it should be.  
The little of I've seen of this guy hasn't impressed me much.  It's certainly posssible he's matured and repented of the bigotry of his youth. If he has , that's good.   The guy is famous enough that I know who he is but if I asked the next 10 people I I see if they know who he is, none of them would. He isn't really bringing anything new to the table that the mob of far right pundits in the media haven't  already brought up.

 
I have no idea who this guy is: this video just showed up in my YouTube suggestions  and I decided to click on it.

https://youtu.be/2YmDv2GsEvA

I think he makes some good points. Among the things Shapiro did wrong in the BBC interview were (a) to immediately (and wrongly) accuse Andrew Neil of being part of the left, and then (b) to use that (false) belief as justification for refusing to engage with him. Shapiro is a champion of free speech and often pays tribute to the benefits of discussion and dialogue and a robust marketplace of ideas, but in this case he went the opposite way and cut off dialogue because he thought the other guy was part of the opposing team (even though he wasn’t).

 
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Shapiro is a champion of free speech and often pays tribute to the benefits of discussion and dialogue and a robust marketplace of ideas
No he isn't.  If he was, he would have expressed opposition to the anti-BDS bills that have forced state employees to pledge an oath not to boycott Israel, or in Bahia Amawi's case, lose their jobs.  It's the most blatant, clearcut first amendment violation going right now.  He has said nothing about this because he is not principled on the issue of free speech.  

His website hosted editorial saying the US was Right To Deny Entry To BDS Co-Founder Omar Barghouti for his views which they disagree with.  He cries out how universities banning a talk on free speech is leftist fascism, but calls on university donors to withdraw donations if BDS is not condemned.  People that care about free speech won't fall for this absolute fraud.  

 
@ggreenwald

The best part of the @benshapiro debacle is at the end, when the entire panel gapes in astonishment at what a vapid intellectual lightweight and ignorant fraud he is, which is all he is. Start at 10:30:

 

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