Ben Shapiro criticizes Tucker Carlson's interview with Donald Trump as “a propaganda 45-minute softball for Trump”
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From the August 24, 2023, edition of The Daily Wire's The Ben Shapiro Show
BEN SHAPIRO (HOST): The nature of the -- of this particular interview was just Tucker not asking him anything remotely difficult. The most difficult question that he asked Trump was whether Epstein killed himself, to which Trump said, yeah, probably. But Tucker -- I mean, listen. Tucker has principles, obviously. He speaks about them regularly. This would have been a great opportunity for him to ask the former president and leading Republican candidate about some of those principles. He didn't do any of it. Instead, he sort of -- I mean, how soft were the softballs that Tucker was throwing to Donald Trump? He asked Donald Trump to rip on Mike Pence by suggesting that Donald Trump had always been very nice to Mike Pence. This question is so bizarre. I -- like -- I don't even know what to say about this.
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He was always -- you were always very nice to Mike Pence is one of the craziest Orwellian statements I have ever heard. You were always very nice to Mike Pence is an insane statement. That's -- that's, like, truly that's a crazy, crazy question. That was the nature of this -- that was the nature of this interview. Which, again, softball interview on Twitter. Did it counter program Fox? Not really. Is -- you know, I watched both that -- I doubt very many people actually did. Tucker did ask him one question that was of relevance, but then he didn't press him on it. He said, you know, they stole it last time, why wouldn't they steal it this time? Now, the question he should have asked is, we all know they're going to -- you say that you won the election last time -- and if you're Tucker, you believe that's true apparently, or you at least believe enough of it that you're willing to say it. The question to Trump should be, okay, how are you gonna un-steal it? Right? I mean, that's, like, a question that whether you love Trump, whether you hate Trump, like, that's a really good question that Trump has never answered. You say the election was stolen in 2020, but you won, but it was stolen, but you won. So, let's say the same thing happens this time. What is your plan to un-steal the election? Can you name how you are gonna overcome all of this? Can you just lay out, like, your electoral strategy? How are you gonna get out the vote? What kind of budgeting are you dedicating to, say, grassroots organizing? What sort of budget are you dedicating to your legal team? What sort of legal measures are you preparing? Do you have ballot watchers? Do you have vote counters? Like, how exactly is this going -- like, that would be a useful question. How much of your Trump campaign fund is being dedicated to, say, your legal expenses in Georgia as opposed to building up the infrastructure necessary to preserve an election that you win, if you say that you won 2020? Is that the question Tucker asked? No. He asked him the question of, like, why are people so mean to you?
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Okay, so that's what the entire interview was. That's not counter programming. I'm sorry. That really is not. I mean, it's just a propaganda 45-minute softball for Trump. That's all that is. I mean, just realistically speaking -- you may love it. Maybe that's your bag, but that's what it is. And that -- how are you simultaneously so brave and yet so humble? And that's what that interview was.