On Thursday at CPAC, the NRA’s Dana Loesch, Republican Senator Ted Cruz (Tex.), and Vice President Mike Pence drew applause and standing ovations during their respective speeches, but conservative podcast host and Daily Wire editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro lit up the Potomac Ballroom with his remarks attacking political correctness on college campuses, in Hollywood, and the liberal media.
Shapiro saved his strongest criticism for the liberal media as he declared that they’re not only “lying” about conservatives, but these “vile human beings” “are intentionally dividing the country in order to promulgate a gun-control agenda” and smear anyone standing in their way.
He suggested that he doesn’t “mean everyone in the media” as there are “some good people...but too many of the folks in the media who proclaim that they are objective truth-tellers are actually just advocates of leftism — masquerading as objective truth tellers.”
Adding that the liberal media have arguably “bought into the PC culture” more than colleges, Shapiro cited their refusal to use the term “illegal immigrant,” deny basic biology about men and women, and defend Islam following a radical Islam terror attack but not Christians who refuse to bake for a gay wedding.
“You want to know who the bigots are in America? It’s these folks in the mainstream media proclaiming their objectivity while they push their agenda. These are the people who suggest that you don’t give a damn about children murdered in mass shootings unless you agree with their gun confiscation scheme,” Shapiro continued.
After a reference to his viral 2013 gun debate with Piers Morgan, he observed that the media have “not learned one thing” since the Sandy Hook gun debate but instead “gotten worse” because they’re “lying about you, they are lying about me, they are intentionally dividing the country in order to promulgate a gun-control agenda.”
Shapiro conducted a show of hands of those who care about the Parkland students and supporting gun rights to show that “both things can go together, media” to enthusiastic applause. It was here that things grew fiery:
When you sit there and stand there and you suggest that we don’t care about dead children just because we don’t mirror what you want us to think, that is because you're acting like vile human beings, okay? It is vile. It is disgusting to suggest that we do not care about fellow Americans who died at the hands of an evil maniac. It is you who are standing in the way of real progress. By the way, note for the media in the room, okay? For all those folks in the media who are in the room, here’s something that we’ve done at Daily Wire as members of the media. It will cost us clicks. We don’t care, okay? There are studies that suggest that one of the ways that mass shootings become more common is if you show their names and faces on television. We at Daily Wire no longer do that...Put your ratings behind your morality.
He wrapped up the media portion by astutely reminding the media (and that means you too, CNN Media team) that “when President Trump criticizes the media, why so many conservatives cheer” is not simply because Trump started it, but rather that “we didn’t like you guys before” Trump’s rise.
Showing why he’s admired and respected by everyone on the right from diehard Trump supporters to Trump skeptics to even some Never Trumpers, he chastised the President’s false claims about his Inauguration size and Charlottesville comments as examples of self-inflicted wounds in the fight against political correctness. Because, as he often likes to say, facts don’t care about your feelings.
To see the relevant transcript from Ben Shapiro’s February 18 CPAC speech, click “expand.”
CPAC 2018
February 22, 2018
3:48 p.m. EasternBEN SHAPIRO: Universities drank the kool-aid of PC and they have been dying from it ever since. And then there are our friends in the media. Now, I don’t mean everyone in the media. Right, there are some good people in the media, but too many of the folks in the media who proclaim that they are objective truth-tellers are actually just advocates of leftism — masquerading as objective truth tellers. [APPLAUSE]
And these are the folks who have bought into PC culture, maybe worse than even it is at the university level. These are the people who categorically refuse to use the term illegal immigrants to describe immigrants who cross the border illegally. [LAUGHTER] These are the people who insist that a biological man is actually a woman if he says he is a woman. Hint: He is not. He is a dude. [APPLAUSE]
Objective facts don’t disappear just because your subjective feelings wish they would. These are the people who scream religion of peace every time an Islamic terror attack rocks a major western city but scream Christian radicals everytime a Christian couple refuses to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. [APPLAUSE] You want to know who the bigots are in America? It’s these folks in the mainstream media proclaiming their objectivity while they push their agenda. These are the people who suggest that you don’t give a damn about children murdered in mass shootings unless you agree with their gone confiscation scheme and I have quick note here. Five years ago I was on CNN talking with my good friend Piers Morgan about this. [LAUGHTER]
And I accused Piers Morgan of standing on the graves of the children of Sandy Hook in order to promote their political agenda. The media has not learned one thing. They have gotten worse. The media are lying about you, they are lying about me, they are intentionally dividing the country in order to promulgate a gun-control agenda. And when the media say — this is a room filled with young conservative people. Now, raise your hand, young conservative people, if you care about the kids who are killed in Parkland? Okay. Now, raise your hand if you also wish to preserve Second Amendment rights? [APPLAUSE]
Okay. You see both things can go together, media. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] When you sit there and stand there and you suggest that we don’t care about dead children just because we don’t mirror what you want us to think, that is because you're acting like vile human beings, okay? It is vile. It is disgusting to suggest that we do not care about fellow Americans who died at the hands of an evil maniac. It is you who are standing in the way of real progress. By the way, note for the media in the room, okay? For all those folks in the media who are in the room, here’s something that we’ve done at Daily Wire as members of the media. It will cost us clicks. We don’t care, okay? There are studies that suggest that one of the ways that mass shootings become more common is if you show their names and faces on television. We at Daily Wire no longer do that.
So, I challenge you in the media. You want to lead the way on gun control? [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] You want to stop mass shootings? Put your ratings behind your morality. And yet these folks in the media do not understand when President Trump criticizes the media, why so many conservatives cheer. They don’t understand. They think it’s just because Trump is mean to the media that we’ll all following Trump. No. We didn’t like you guys before. [LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE] These are the people who remind us each and every day that America is a racist, sexist, bigoted, homophobic country while they take home their pretty large paychecks while living in the freest country in world history, all the while claiming they are objective truth tellers. And again then whine that it’s because of Trump.
