Ben Shapiro’s empire appears to be shattering. One of the earliest and most successful “owners of the libs,” Shapiro and his website, The Daily Wire, have been torched in recent weeks by critics on the right. 

Much of this criticism is centered around Shaprio’s stance on Israel. Tucker Carlson argues that Americans are suffering from addictions, despair, and an economic system that is rigged against them, and that Shapiro’s outsized concern for Israel makes him appear insensitive to the struggles of ordinary people. While some critics are dancing too close to the conspiracy theorist line and just seem to want to engage in online brawling, it is possible for serious people to want an America that is less involved with Israel and, indeed, other foreign powers, without being anti-Semitic.

Some of Shapiro’s critics, unfortunately, have not managed to walk that line, but that’s not even the worst of it. Far more concerning is that they have also been unable to offer any answers about what America is going to do about radical Islam, a growing and serious threat in our country, thanks, especially, to out-of-control immigration. You can be against invading and bombing foreign countries that don’t pose a serious threat to us, and for a realistic assessment of the jihadi threat. Too many on the right seem unable to thread that needle.

Moreover, in Shapiro’s case, the emphasis on his unquestioned support for Israel is a diversion from a more critical flaw: Namely, that Ben Shapiro had millions of dollars with which he could have built a great journalism enterprise, and his greed, short-sightedness, and superficial thinking made him blow it. It’s fine to own the libs, but if you really want to take on places like the Washington Post and The New York Times, you must invest in talent and  build a great enterprise from its foundations.

From the time the Daily Wire was launched in 2015, Shapiro focused on dunking on college sophomores and rage bait. I recently spoke with a former Daily Wire employee who wrote for the site for two years. He was unsparing in his assessment of what went wrong. “The Daily Wire had all the opportunity in the world to create a company centered on true journalism and cultural integrity,” he said. “Instead, under Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing’s watch, the company descended into a mindless concoction of monetized outrage, cult of personality, and tactless art that I would not even call worthy of being compared to the most bottom shelf of kitsch.” (Jeremy Boreing is the co-founder of the Daily Wire.)

He was especially scathing about Daily Wire’s efforts in the film industry and the personalities Shapiro has chosen to promote.

It would be an insult to kitsch to describe the embarrassment that is Lady Ballers, Run Hide Fight, Candace Owens, Brett Cooper, and now Matt Walsh. There is no excuse for what it became other than basic vanity masking sheer incompetence. A tragedy. A shame. A waste. A stain on conservatism itself.

My source also mentioned a staff meeting the Daily Wire held in September 2018, during which my name came up. It was at the height of the Brett Kavanaugh nomination circus, a circus that the American Stasi on the left tried to drag me into with wild charges that I have covered extensively here and in my book.

“I will never forget this,” my source recalled.

You and Kavanaugh were fighting for your lives. We held a staff meeting at the Daily Wire. Everyone was there. I started talking about how insane it was how you guys were getting attacked and that we needs to defend you. At that point Jeremy Boreing looked at me and declared that it was no use defending Kavanaugh, that Kavanaugh wasn’t going to make it. I asked him why, and he said, “Because of Mark Judge.”

As it turned out, of course, Kavanaugh did make it, as did I. Hearing this story, though, made me realize that Tucker Carlson has a serious point when he notes the callous disregard Shapiro and conservatives of his mold seem to have for regular Americans who get caught up in events and have their lives overturned by forces outside of their control. I had already felt the deep arrogance and cowardice of Boreing and Shapiro after Daily Wire made serious mistakes in recounting my story in a documentary and refused to correct the record. No, Shapiro’s biggest blind spot is not Israel, but his inability to empathize with and understand regular Americans—not to mention his lack of guts to bother defending them.

Back in 2021, Shapiro announced that the Daily Wire was getting into the entertainment business: 

The problem is that Republicans won’t win anybody over by simply disengaging. We need those who aren’t political to engage with a different sort of content: content that is edgy and entertaining and awesome, but that doesn’t actively work to undermine the very values that have made this country exceptional. We need to give people options. So Daily Wire will, in 2021, be jumping into the world of entertainment content. We’re going to be bringing out movies—edgy, entertaining, awesome movies that won’t mock your values. We’re going to be producing TV shows—comedies and dramas that take you seriously, and that don’t take advantage of your viewership to promote Leftist causes.

Edgy, entertaining, awesome. This, I thought, would be an opportunity to make truly great films. I encouraged the Daily Wire to consider a film version of my book about the Kavanaugh battles, The Devil’s Triangle. It could be everything Shapiro wanted—an adult psychological thriller and drama that also had comedy. It featured flawed protagonists and flashbacks to the 1980s. Instead, we got Lady Ballers. 

Behind all the conflict over Israel, foreign policy, religion, and culture, the plain truth is that the Daily Wire is flaming out because of arrogance and a disconnection from its audience. It went for the quick high instead of laying the groundwork for a long-term project bolstered by talent and excellence. After just 10 years, its future is much less bright than mine or Brett Kavanaugh’s.