The opening night of Turning Point USA’s AmFest 2025 conference Thursday devolved into a public fight between two of conservatism’s most prominent MAGA voices.
The Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro launched an on-stage attack on Tucker Carlson just hours before Carlson took the same stage in Phoenix.
Shapiro opened his remarks at the the Turning Point USA conference by denouncing figures he said are threats to the conservative movement.
“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 conspiracies and dishonesty, who offer nothing but bile and despair, who seek to undermine fundamental principles of conservatism by championing aggravation and grievance.”
Shapiro said Carlson was “guilty of cowardice” for remaining silent while conservative Candace Owens spread conspiracy theories about the September assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
“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.
Shapiro also criticized Carlson for hosting white nationalist Nick Fuentes on his program in October. He called Fuentes a “Hitler apologist, Nazi-loving, anti-American piece of refuse.”
“There’s a reason Charlie Kirk despised Nick Fuentes and indeed chided Dinesh D’Souza for debating him. He knew that Nick Fuentes is an evil troll and that building him up is an act of moral imbecility. And that is precisely what Tucker Carlson did. He built Nick Fuentes up. And he ought to take responsibility for that,” Shapiro said.
The Daily Wire co-founder also slammed Carlson for what he described as “lazy, stupid and misleading” methods of “just asking questions” without providing evidence.
“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,” Shapiro said.
“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,” Shapiro said.
🚨 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
When Carlson took the stage later Thursday evening, he countered Shapiro’s attack with humor.
“I watched it, I laughed,” Carlson said. “Calls to deplatform at a Charlie Kirk event? That’s hilarious.”
“To hear calls for deplatforming and denouncing people at a Charlie Kirk event, I’m like, what? This is hilarious,” Carlson said.
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
The public feud overshadowed attempts by Erika Kirk to project unity within the MAGA movement at the summit.
In her opening remarks, Kirk announced her endorsement of Vice President JD Vance for president in 2028 and celebrated Turning Point USA’s growing membership of more than one million students.