Getting the 'cranks' off our backs: Ben Shapiro's challenge at the Heritage Foundation

The speech featuring Ben Shapiro at the Heritage Foundation, in which he criticized Tucker Carlson relentlessly, has gone viral by virtue of the fact that these are two of the most influential people in the American political discourse and certainly two key opinion makers as far as the current conservative narrative is concerned. But while Shapiro excelled in competence and argumentation, deep down it came across as a desperate cry for attention to a movement that has lost control of its own narrative.

Addressing a packed room where he was presenting his new book, "Lions & Scavengers: The True Story of America," Shapiro pulled no punches and in a fiery speech, launched a devastating tirade against Carlson, branding him as "an opponent of conservatism" and warning that the movement risks total destruction without strict "ideological border control," underhandedly admitting that MAGA is not a coherent set of principles, but a battleground where irreconcilable worldviews clash. The border metaphor is telling, given that it harkens back to one of the stellar public policies of this Trump administration. Shapiro launched a provocative parallel between national borders and those of the values and goals of the Heritage Foundation, the host of the event.

Before the expectant Washington audience, Shapiro diagnosed a pathology sweeping through the movement: the loss of guiding principles. Singling out Tucker Carlson as an "opponent of conservatism," Shapiro highlighted that this current is, ironically, adopting the tactics of the far left.

"Ideological border control"

Shapiro's fight against the ghosts within the conservative movement is not new. The right has faced such challenges before, and has not always been up to the task. In the interwar period of the last century, European and American conservatism suffered one of its darkest periods: feeling threatened by the advance of communism and economic chaos, a part of the right wing was seduced by tribal nationalism (today we would say identitarianism) and antisemitism. Shapiro has called to establish "ideological border control" to prevent the conservative movement from falling into the same intellectual trap that nearly destroyed the West decades ago.

But the most critical point is the infiltration of conspiracy theories that serve as a bridge to antisemitism. Shapiro was scathing in denouncing how tropes and blood libel are normalized. The problem he identifies is threefold. First, a false economic narrative with close ties to the far-left wing of the Democratic Party: Carlson attacks the free market, financial capital and proposes state interventions that are more reminiscent of Elizabeth Warren than Ronald Reagan. Second is the institutional attacks: by describing the Constitution as a "sham" and praising pre-capitalist systems or authoritarian regimes such as those of Putin or Maduro, the concept of limited government is undermined.

And the third and most critical point is the infiltration of conspiracy theories that make fanaticism prevail over critical spirit. The current danger lies in a naïve conservatism: that which sees history through a self-indulgent lens and despises historical alliances and truths. This faction locks itself into resentful, anti-capitalist nationalism, replacing serious foreign policy with paternalistic delirium. And it is not only about Israel; certain sectors of the right are falling into an abyss of ridiculousness where they speak with the same seriousness of supposed "Mossad networks" as of extraterrestrials or of the total control of water by dark elites. This mentality is not only false, it is paralyzing. A movement that sees invisible enemies in every corner calls for unchecked vengeful violence and loses the ability to confront real enemies (such as Iran, the China-Russia axis) and, worse, loses the respect of the common citizen.

The precedent of William F. Buckley Jr. and the John Birch Society

To understand the gravity of the current moment, we must look back to the figure of William F. Buckley Jr. In the 1950s, Buckley faced a similar dilemma. The John Birch Society and other such groups were gaining ground on the right with paranoid and often antisemitic rhetoric. Buckley understood that, if he wanted conservatism to be a viable and morally respectable political force, he had to get rid of the "cranks." Buckley spent years explaining why antisemitism is poisonous to conservative thought, since it is the ultimate expression of collectivism: it judges a person by their group and not by their individual character. Buckley understood that Western civilization is sustained on its Judeo-Christian heritage. Attacking the Jewish people attacks the ethical foundation of the West.

Like Shapiro, Buckley in his day drew a line that enabled conservatism to win, in the Cold War, the respect of the free world. The drift toward antisemitism in certain parts of the right is not just a betrayal of the Reagan era or Buckley; it is a profound break with the vision of the Founding Fathers. Contrary to the rhetoric of those who today question the alliance with Israel, the founders of the nation saw Judaism as a source of inspiration for American democracy.

John Adams, second president of the United States, expressed his admiration for the Jewish people and his desire to see an independent Jewish nation restored in two letters. On July 31, 1818, Adams wrote: "I wish your nation may be admitted to all the Privileges of Citizens in every Country of the World." Later, on March 15, 1819, Adams was even more specific, stating, "For I really wish the Jews again in Judea an independent nation ... a hundred thousand Israelites... marching with them into Judea & making a conquest of that country & restoring your nation to the dominion of it." Adams' vision reflected both his deep knowledge of Hebrew scripture and his belief that a people restored to their ancestral land and free from persecution could prosper and contribute even more to civilization. For the nation's founders, the Jewish people were not an "outside force" or a "baleful influence," but a spiritual partner in the quest for freedom. Distrust of Jews, in this light, is profoundly un-American.

"Never again" really means "never again"

Shapiro condemned in his Heritage Foundation speech what he has been saying in different episodes of his podcast, the cowardice of those who disguise their antisemitism under the mantra of simply "asking questions," and warned that when truth is abandoned in favor of conspiratorial speculation, truth ceases to be the priority.

Shapiro may have been addressing his speech to the Heritage Foundation president who has been at the center of controversy since he published a fierce defense of Carlson, which he has been trying to liquefy in hopes of stopping the bleeding of donors, members and academics that the iconic foundation is suffering under his stewardship. But the truth is that this speech should be a turning point. If conservatism and classical liberalism wish to survive the wave of the "woke right," they must remember the philosophical and ethical principles of those who preceded them. You cannot be a conservative and despise the free market; you cannot be a classical liberal and praise autocratic regimes; and under no circumstances can you be a defender of the West and harbor the virus of antisemitism.

As Buckley did in the 1960s, and as the Founding Fathers established in the 18th century, the movement must purge out the weeds or, to be more direct: get rid of the "cranks." Conservatism, as Shapiro rightly said, means something. And that something is the defense of individual dignity, objective truth and unwavering alliance with those who share the heritage of liberty. It is not just a question of moral values, though these are paramount. It is a question of political viability and global leadership. Without such ideological clarity, the right will not only lose elections; it will lose its reason to exist, repeating the mistakes of the last century and forgetting that "never again" really means "never again."