Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro
Shapiro in 2016
Born Benjamin Aaron Shapiro
(1984-01-15) January 15, 1984
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Residence Valley Village, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Nationality American
Alma mater University of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Harvard University (JD)
Occupation Political commentator, columnist, author, radio talk show host, lawyer
Movement Conservatism
Spouse(s)
Mor Toledano (m. 2008)
Children 2
Relatives Mara Wilson (cousin)[1]
Signature

Benjamin Aaron Shapiro (/ʃəˈpɪəroʊ/; born January 15, 1984) is an American conservative political commentator, writer, and lawyer. He has written seven books, the first being 2004's Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth, which he started writing when he was 17 years old.

Also at age 17, he became the youngest nationally syndicated columnist in the country.[2][3][4] Shapiro writes columns for Creators Syndicate and Newsweek, serves as editor-in-chief for The Daily Wire, which he founded, and hosts The Ben Shapiro Show, a daily political podcast and radio show. He was editor-at-large of Breitbart News between 2012 and 2016.

Early life

Shapiro was born in Los Angeles, California. His family is Jewish, having emigrated from Russia and Lithuania. Shapiro developed talents in both violin and piano at a young age,[5] notably having performed at the Israeli Bonds Banquet in 1996 at twelve years of age.[6]

Skipping two grades (third and ninth), Shapiro went from Walter Reed Middle School to Yeshiva University High School of Los Angeles where he graduated in 2000 at age 16.[7][3] He graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2004, at age 20, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and then cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2007.[8] He then practiced law at Goodwin Procter. As of March 2012 he ran an independent legal consultancy firm, Benjamin Shapiro Legal Consulting, in Los Angeles.[3]

Career

Shapiro speaking at the 2018 CPAC in National Harbor, Maryland

As author

Shapiro became interested in politics at a young age. He started a nationally syndicated column when he was 17 and had written two books by age 21.[9]

In his 2004 book Brainwashed, Shapiro argues that students are not exposed to a variety of viewpoints at universities and that those who do not have strong opinions will be overwhelmed by an atmosphere dominated by liberal instructors even if discussion is encouraged in classrooms.[10]

In 2011, HarperCollins published Shapiro's fourth book, Primetime Propaganda The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV, in which Shapiro argues that Hollywood has a left-wing agenda that it actively promotes through prime-time entertainment programming. In the book, the producers of Happy Days and M*A*S*H say they pursued a pro-pacifist, anti-Vietnam agenda in those series.[11] The same year Primetime Propaganda came out, Shapiro became a fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center.[12]

In 2013, Threshold Editions published Shapiro's fifth book, Bullies: How the Left's Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americans.[13]

As a columnist

In 2012, Shapiro became editor-at-large of Breitbart News, the conservative website founded by Andrew Breitbart.[14] In March 2016, Shapiro resigned from his position as editor-at-large of Breitbart News following what he characterized as the website's lack of support for reporter Michelle Fields in response to her alleged assault by Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump's former campaign manager.[15][16] After Shapiro's departure, Breitbart published a piece saying "Ben Shapiro betrays loyal Breitbart readers in pursuit of Fox News contributorship", which Breitbart later deleted.[17]

On February 7, 2013, Shapiro published an article citing unspecified Senate sources who said that a group named "Friends of Hamas" was among foreign contributors to the political campaign of Chuck Hagel, a former U.S. Senator awaiting confirmation as Secretary of Defense as a nominee of President Barack Obama, but weeks later Slate reporter David Weigel reported there was no evidence such a group existed.[18] Shapiro told Weigel that the story he published was "the entirety of the information [he] had."[19][20][21]

On October 7, 2013, Shapiro co-founded TruthRevolt, a U.S. media watchdog and activism website, in association with the David Horowitz Freedom Center. TruthRevolt ceased operations in March 2018.[22]

Podcasts and radio

In July 2015, Shapiro and transgender rights activist Zoey Tur were on Dr. Drew On Call to discuss Caitlyn Jenner's receipt of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.[23][24] After Shapiro repeatedly referred to Tur with male pronouns, Tur grabbed his neck and threatened on air to "send him home in an ambulance". Shapiro later announced that he had filed a police report.[25][26][27]

Shapiro founded The Daily Wire on September 21, 2015. He is editor-in-chief as well as a host of his online political podcast The Ben Shapiro Show, broadcast every weekday.[28] As of November 2017, the podcast was downloaded 10 million times each month.[29] Westwood One began syndicating The Ben Shapiro Show to radio in 2018.[30] In 2018, Politico described the podcast as "massively popular".[31]

By 2016 he was one of the hosts for KRLA's "The Morning Answer", a conservative radio show. Internal emails showed that Shapiro faced pressure from Salem Media executives, the syndicate that owned the show, to be more supportive of Trump during the 2016 presidential election. Shapiro however remained highly critical of Trump throughout the election.[32]

Television host

In September 2018, Shapiro started hosting The Ben Shapiro Election Special on Fox News. The limited-run series covers news and issues relating to the 2018 midterm elections.[33]

Views

The New Yorker, Haaretz and Vox have described Shapiro as "right-wing".[34][35][26] Shapiro's views have been described by The New York Times as "extremely conservative". He accuses contemporary liberals of creating an imaginary "hierarchy of victimhood" and glorifying perceived victims, leading to identity politics; The Times describes this as his central talking point.[29] He has argued in his books that the left has used its dominance of cinema and TV to push its agenda.[29] He believes that the election of Donald Trump was more a vote against liberals, and Hillary Clinton in particular, than a vote in favor of Trump's brand of conservatism.[29]

Shapiro acknowledges that climate change is occurring, but questions "what percentage of global warming is attributable to human activity".[36]

Shapiro believes that African-Americans were historically victims of injustice in the United States but that they are not victims of widespread systemic injustice today.[29] As of November 2017, he supported lowering taxes on the very wealthy.[29] He is in favor of privatizing social security, criminalizing abortion, and repealing the Affordable Care Act.[29]

Shapiro supported Ted Cruz in the 2016 presidential election, and openly rejected Trump.[37]

During an interview with Dan Harris of ABC's Nightline in September 2017, Shapiro said that transgenderism "is a psychological disorder. So that's not an insult to people who suffer from psychological disorders…you are not doing a service to people who are suffering from a mental disorder to humor them by suggesting that their mental disorder is reflected in objective reality."[38][39] Harris went on to say that the American Psychological Association does not define being transgender as a mental illness.[39]

During the same interview with Nightline, Shapiro strongly criticized the Alt-Right movement, stating, "It is a garbage movement composed of garbage ideas. It has nothing to do with Constitutional Conservatism".[38]

According to Vox, Shapiro is a polarizing figure, in part due to statements such as "Israelis like to build. Arabs like to bomb crap and live in open sewage", "Trayvon Martin would have turned 21 today if he hadn’t taken a man’s head and beaten it on the pavement before being shot", and his description of President Barack Obama as a "philosophical fascist”.[35] Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic referred to Shapiro as a "fascist" due to Shapiro's view in a 2003 column that Palestinians should be forcibly expelled from the West Bank.[40][41] Shapiro later reversed his view on the issue, saying it was "both inhumane and impractical."[42]

In 2018, Shapiro asserted that Facebook was targeting conservative sites after Facebook implemented an algorithm change, limiting their traffic.[43]

Campus lectures

Shapiro frequently speaks at a number of college campuses across the country, often to present his conservative viewpoint on more controversial subjects. He spoke at 37 campuses between early 2016 and late 2017.[29]

California State University, Los Angeles

Some students and faculty members at California State University, Los Angeles objected to a speech that Shapiro, who was then an editor at Breitbart News, was scheduled to hold at the university on February 25, 2016, titled "When Diversity Becomes a Problem". The speech was hosted by the campus chapter of the conservative group Young Americans for Freedom. University president William Covino cancelled the speech three days before it was to take place, with the intention of rescheduling it so that the event could feature various viewpoints on the subject of campus diversity. Covino ultimately reversed his decision, allowing the speech to go on as planned.[44][45]

The day of the speech, hundreds of student protesters formed human chains, blocking the doors to the event, and staging sit-in protests. When Shapiro began his speech, a protestor pulled the fire alarm. After the speech ended, Shapiro was escorted out by campus police.[46] Three months after the CSULA incident, Young America's Foundation announced it was filing a lawsuit against the university (with Shapiro as one of the plaintiffs), claiming that the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of the students were violated by Covino's attempted cancellation of the event, as well as the physical barricading of students from entering or leaving the event.[47]

University of California, Berkeley

On September 14, 2017, Shapiro gave a speech at the invitation of the UC (Berkeley) student organization Berkeley College Republicans where he criticized identity politics.[48][49] The event involved a large police presence which had been promised by Berkeley Chancellor Carol T. Christ in her August letter that supported free speech. Together, the University and the city of Berkeley spent $600,000 on police and security for the event, which transpired with nine arrests but no major incidents.[50][51]

Target of antisemitism

After leaving Breitbart News, Shapiro was a frequent target of anti-Semitic rhetoric from the alt-right.[52] According to a 2016 analysis by the Anti-Defamation League, Shapiro was the most frequent target of anti-Semitic tweets.[53]

Personal life

Shapiro has three sisters. In 2008, he married Mor Toledano, an Israeli citizen of Moroccan descent.[54] Shapiro and his wife practice Orthodox Judaism.[55][56] She is a doctor.[57] Together, they have a daughter, born in 2014,[58] and a son, born in 2016.[59]

Works

  • Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth ( ISBN 0-78526148-6). WND Books: 2004.
  • Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future ( ISBN 0-89526016-6). Regnery: 2005.
  • Project President: Bad Hair and Botox on the Road to the White House ( ISBN 1-59555100-X). Thomas Nelson: 2008.
  • Primetime Propaganda: The True Hollywood Story of How the Left Took Over Your TV ( ISBN 0-06209210-3). Harper Collins: 2011.
  • Bullies: How the Left's Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America ( ISBN 1-47671001-5). Threshold Editions: 2013.
  • The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against the Obama Administration ( ISBN 1-47676513-8). Threshold Editions: 2014.
  • A Moral Universe Torn Apart (ASIN B01I3X4ISK). Creator's Publishing: 2014.
  • What's Fair and Other Short Stories (ASIN B016R28SLM). Revolutionary Publishing: 2015.
  • True Allegiance ( ISBN 1-68261077-2). Post Hill Press: 2016.

See also

References

  1. ↑ McNamara, Neal (January 24, 2014). "Justin Bieber a symptom of a big problem". KTTH. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  2. ↑ Seitz-Wald, Alex (April 3, 2013). "Is this baby-faced blogger the next Andrew Breitbart?". Salon.
  3. 1 2 3 "Ben Shapiro: Proud Torah-Observant Jew and Rising Star in America's Conservative Movement" (PDF), Zman Magazine, March 2012, archived (PDF) from the original on February 1, 2017
  4. ↑ Spencer Brown (July 11, 2017) Ben Shapiro Partners with YAF to Affirm Students' Free Speech Rights at Berkeley Amid Lawsuit Archived September 17, 2017, at the Wayback Machine., YAF
  5. ↑ Matt, McDonald. "Ben Shapiro, the child prodigy gone right". The Spectator. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  6. ↑ Perri, Erin. "At 12-Years-Old, Ben Shapiro Blew The Crowd Away With His Violin". TellMeNow, LLC. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  7. ↑ Pope, Justin (June 10, 2004). "School liberalism blasted". Deseret News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 4, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Ben Shapiro". Simon & Schuster. Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  9. ↑ Harris, Dan; Torres, Ignacio; Effron, Lauren (October 21, 2017). "Conservative commentator on future of free speech on campus". ABC News. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  10. ↑ Hsu, Charlotte (May 10, 2004). "Book misconstrues facts". The Daily Bruin. UCLA. Archived from the original on June 4, 2004. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  11. ↑ Lawson, Mark (June 29, 2011). "Is US TV too leftwing?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  12. ↑ Glazov, Jamie (May 31, 2011). "Primetime Propaganda". FrontPage Magazine. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  13. ↑ búsqueda, Resultados de (July 8, 2014). "Bullies: How the Left's Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americans". Threshold ed. Retrieved April 20, 2018 – via Amazon.
  14. ↑ Weigel, David (March 21, 2012). "Meet the Breitbarts". Slate. Archived from the original on May 26, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  15. ↑ Vinograd, Cassandra. "Breitbart's Michelle Fields, Ben Shapiro Resign Over Trump Incident". NBC News. Archived from the original on March 14, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Breitbart reporter, editor resign over response to alleged assault by Trump campaign manager". Fox News. Archived from the original on March 16, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Breitbart Reporter and Quits After Alleged Assault by Trump Staffer". NBC News. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  18. ↑ Weigel, David (February 20, 2013). ""Friends of Hamas": The Scary-Sounding Pro-Hagel Group That Doesn't Actually Exist". Slate. Archived from the original on February 22, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  19. ↑ Christopher, Tommy (February 20, 2013). "Secret Hagel Donor?: White House Ducks Questions On 'Fox And Friends Of Hamas'". Mediaite. Archived from the original on July 20, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  20. ↑ Christopher, Tommy (February 21, 2013). "The Young Turks Guest Catches Breitbart News'= Ben Shapiro In 'Friends Of Hamas' Lie". Mediaite. Archived from the original on June 27, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  21. ↑ Trotter, J.K (February 20, 2013). "'Friends of Hamas' Rumor Debunked by Reporter Who Accidentally Started It". The Atlantic Wire. Archived from the original on February 22, 2013. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
  22. ↑ "Announcement:TruthRevolt Closing up shop". Truthrevolt.org. March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Ben Shapiro files complaint against transgender reporter Tur".
  24. ↑ "Editor Ben Shapiro Files Police Report Against Transgender Reporter After Heated TV Exchange". July 21, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Jewish pundit, trans journalist in on-air spat". The Times of Israel.
  26. 1 2 Andrew Tobin (July 21, 2015). "Watch: Trans journalist threatens right-wing Jewish pundit during on-air spat". Haaretz.com.
  27. ↑ Lauren Walker (July 21, 2015). "Editor Ben Shapiro Files Police Report Against Transgender Reporter After Heated TV Exchange". Newsweek. Archived from the original on March 18, 2017.
  28. ↑ "Ben Shapiro's Astonishing Success". National Review. August 8, 2017. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tavernise, Sabrina (November 23, 2017). "Ben Shapiro, A Provocative 'Gladiator,' Battles to Win Young Conservatives". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  30. ↑ Schwartz, Jason. "Ben Shapiro to take his podcast to radio". POLITICO. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  31. ↑ "The New Conservative Media Establishment". POLITICO Magazine. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  32. ↑ Darcy, Hadas Gold and Oliver. "Salem executives pressured radio hosts to cover Trump more positively, emails show". CNNMoney. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  33. ↑ Pink, Aiden (October 4, 2018). "Ben Shapiro Rides Kavanaugh Controversy to Top of U.S. Conservative Media". Haaretz. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  34. ↑ "Harvard's Dishonorable Treatment of Chelsea Manning and Michelle Jones". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  35. 1 2 "Actor Mark Duplass apologizes for praising conservative pundit Ben Shapiro". Vox. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  36. ↑ Villa, Lissandra (April 25, 2017). "Some Republicans Want Their Party To Change Their Tune On Climate Change". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  37. ↑ "How the 'alt-right' checkmated the media". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  38. 1 2 Harris, Dan (September 2017). "Outspoken conservative Ben Shapiro says political correctness breeds insanity". abcnews.go.com/nightline. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  39. 1 2 News, A. B. C. (2017-10-21). "Conservative commentator on future of free speech on campus". ABC News. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
  40. ↑ "Goldberg: Breitbart's Ben Shapiro 'fascist'". POLITICO. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  41. ↑ Goldberg, Jeffrey (2013-02-20). "Prominent Hagel Detractor Endorses Fascistic Vision of Israel". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  42. ↑ "Who is Ben Shapiro?". The Mercury News. 2017-09-14. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
  43. ↑ "Conservative outlets take on Facebook". POLITICO. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  44. ↑ "In Reversal, Cal State LA President Allows Conservative Pundit Ben Shapiro to Speak at Campus Event". KTLA 5. Archived from the original on February 26, 2016.
  45. ↑ "University President Shuts Down Conservative Journalist's Speech, Citing "Free Exchange of Ideas"". Mediaite. Archived from the original on February 28, 2016.
  46. ↑ "Ben Shapiro escorted by police from CSULA due to angry protesters". ABC 7. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016.
  47. ↑ "CSULA sued over conservative author's protest-ridden speech". MyNewsLA. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  48. ↑ Allison Kaplan Sommer (September 15, 2017). "Jewish Conservative Ben Shapiro to Antifa Protesters at UC Berkeley: 'Go to Hell, You Lying, Stupid Jackasses'". Haaretz. Archived from the original on September 16, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  49. ↑ "Shaprio event goes off with barely a hitch". Berkeley News. September 14, 2017. Archived from the original on September 16, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  50. ↑ Steinmetz, Katy (September 14, 2017). "'The University Has Coddled Students Too Long.' Conservative Firebrand Roils Berkeley". Time. Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  51. ↑ Panzar, Javier; Tchekmedyian, Alene (September 15, 2017). "9 arrested as protesters gather at UC Berkeley for talk by conservative speaker Ben Shapiro". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
  52. ↑ "Explaining Ben Shapiro's Messy, Ethnic-Slur-Laden Breakup With Breitbart". Daily Intelligencer. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  53. ↑ "In 2016, people have read anti-Semitic tweets 10 billion times, many from Trump supporters". Washington Post. Retrieved 2018-09-25.
  54. ↑ Shapiro, Ben, Twitter, archived from the original on March 8, 2018
  55. ↑ Glazov, Jamie (May 13, 2004). "Brainwashed". Front Page Magazine. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  56. ↑ Mor Toledo, first in class to find perfect match, HSJ, archived from the original on January 28, 2013
  57. ↑ Shapiro, Ben (July 13, 2018). "10 Lessons in 10 Years — What Marriage Has Taught Me". Newsweek.
  58. ↑ Shapiro, Ben (February 5, 2014). "Letter to My Newborn Daughter". Townhall. Archived from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  59. ↑ @benshapiro (May 7, 2016). "With infinite gratitude to God, we're overjoyed to welcome to the world our new baby boy, who arrived at 10:30 this morning!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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