Shapiro Has Own Version of “Brexit” On UK TV

Political commentator Ben Shapiro found himself on the receiving end of social media attacks for a television interview with the BBC’s Andrew Neil that aired Friday. It became the top story trending on Twitter since Shapiro “rudely” walked out of the encounter. Leftist media widely reported that Ben Shapiro couldn’t handle the veteran UK broadcaster’s characteristically argumentative questions. The Daily Beast, for example, even highlighted the fact that Shapiro in the past used the phrase, “Facts don’t care about your feelings.” Yet, his feelings were clearly hurt by Neil, who was functioning in his familiar TV role as devil’s advocate.

Andrew Neil explained in the interview that “My job is to question people with strong views and put an alternative to them.” This was after Shapiro accused him of being a Leftist posing as an objective journalist.

Emotion certainly got the best of Ben Shapiro during the Andrew Neil interview.

The interview remained contentious thereafter. Shapiro seemed on the defensive for the duration and accused Neil of posing “gotcha” questions. The back and forth culminated into Shapiro cutting the London-to-Los-Angeles hookup short and walking out of the studio.

“I am not inclined to continue an interview with someone as badly motivated as you”



US conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro ends spiky interview with @afneil



Watch #politicslive interview in full: https://t.co/tXVdNWnXWi pic.twitter.com/WEO2UKOc79 — BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) May 10, 2019 Archive.is

During the intense discussion, Shapiro claimed that he had never heard of Andrew Neil and vice versa. Shapiro added that he had little regard for what Neil thought of him. Regardless of whether Neil was being too aggressive with his questioning, undermining someone’s status is hardly professional. The fast-talking Shapiro is certainly a brilliant intellectual, but that does not excuse condescension or bragging about his popularity. BBC gave Shapiro a platform to promote his new book, and he couldn’t even make it the full way through.

Social Media Responds

Twitter users highlighted the fact that Andrew Neil is a center-to-right-leaning journalist and is known for asking tough questions:

Absolutely cracking interview by @afneil with Ben Shapiro, but I particularly liked the bit where Andrew Neil got accused of being a liberal leftie — Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) May 10, 2019 Archive.is

Ben Shapiro apparently went into the interview unprepared, and to his credit, acknowledged that publicly.

Just pre-taped an interview with BBC’s @afneil. As I’m not familiar with him or his work, I misinterpreted his antagonism as political Leftism (he termed the pro-life position in America “barbaric”) – and that was apparently inaccurate. For that, I apologize. — Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 9, 2019 Archive.is

Not a Good Look

Many right-leaning individuals look up to Ben Shapiro, especially young Conservatives. There is no question that he has a strong influence on the new wave of Conservatism. His online publication, The Daily Wire, has been rather successful. Much of this success results from Shapiro’s uncanny ability to “destroy” Leftist arguments in a way that very few pundits can.

Shapiro, a Never Trumper who is now a Sometimes Trumper, has emerged as a YouTube sensation and hosts the fastest-growing Conservative podcast in the country. It could be argued that his humility has slipped, however, as his fame has grown.

There is no doubt that Ben Shapiro is influential. With his influence comes great responsibility. Young Conservatives should keep in mind that it is always important to remain civil even in the face of tough, or unfair, questions. Shapiro is fond of saying that that arguments should not be solely based on emotion. Emotion certainly got the best of him with the Andrew Neil appearance.

Watch the interview below and draw your own conclusions.