Steve Bannon reportedly added fuel Friday night to a growing firestorm engulfing conservative media figures at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, piling onto Ben Shapiro a day after Shapiro delivered a blistering speech attacking Candace Owens and others within the movement.
Shapiro took the stage Thursday and sharply condemned Owens for promoting conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was killed in September. Owens, who previously worked for Shapiro at The Daily Wire, has baselessly suggested that Kirk’s murder was tied to a conspiracy involving Israeli government officials. The dispute has become a flashpoint in a broader struggle over the direction and identity of the MAGA movement.
During his remarks, Shapiro accused fellow conservatives of moral cowardice for refusing to denounce Owens. “The people who refuse to condemn Candace’s truly vicious attacks, and some of them are speaking here, are guilty of cowardice. Yes, cowardice,” Shapiro said, also taking aim at Megyn Kelly. He argued that silence in the face of what he called conspiratorial nonsense was itself inexcusable.
The response was swift and fierce. Tucker Carlson fired back at Shapiro in his own speech moments later. On Friday, Kelly also lashed out at Shapiro, accusing him of attacking allies publicly. Owens escalated further, bluntly telling Shapiro “F*** you” on her podcast.
By Friday night, Bannon, the former Trump adviser and longtime populist figure, took his turn at the microphone. Speaking to the AmericaFest crowd, Bannon dismissed Shapiro’s self-styled defense of truth and questioned his loyalty to the MAGA movement.
“Now, Benji Shapiro sat up here last night, and he was all, you know, ‘It’s all about the truth,’” Bannon said. “Ben, I’ve known you a long time, brother. You can’t handle the truth.”
Bannon went on to accuse Shapiro of being fundamentally opposed to Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda. “Let’s be blunt,” Bannon said. “He is a hardcore never-Trumper.” He pointed to Shapiro’s actions during the 2016 election cycle, claiming that Shapiro tried to undermine Trump while working at Breitbart and later walked away from the outlet amid internal disputes.
Bannon alleged that Shapiro sought to shift support to Sen. Ted Cruz during the 2016 primary because of his opposition to Trump and offered only lukewarm backing during the general election. He also criticized Shapiro’s political positioning after Trump left office, accusing him of quickly aligning himself with Ron DeSantis.
Bannon’s remarks then turned toward foreign policy, where he accused Shapiro of prioritizing Israel over American interests. He argued that Shapiro belongs to what he called an “Israel First” faction and claimed that Trump’s refusal to support what Bannon described as the “Greater Israel Project” has put him at odds with figures like Shapiro.
“What is Greater Israel?” Bannon asked. “It’s not about Israel itself. It’s about an expansionist Israel, an imperial Israel.” He accused Shapiro and others of placing those interests ahead of America’s.
Bannon has previously clashed with Mark Levin, a Fox News host and prominent conservative voice, who this week praised Trump and referred to him as “the first Jewish president” because of his support for Israel. Levin, in turn, has sharply criticized Bannon in the past, once labeling him “Third Reich Bannon.”
The escalating exchanges at AmericaFest underscore deepening fractures within conservative media and MAGA-aligned circles, as long-simmering ideological and personal disputes spill onto the national stage.
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