On the Wednesday edition of his podcast, Ben Shapiro criticized Vice President J.D. Vance for his kind words for comedian and podcaster Theo Von at a Turning Point USA event. Shapiro said Vance will shrink the Trump coalition if he continues to associate himself with people like Von and Tucker Carlson. “Laughing along with the purveyors of bullsh*t while occasionally tut-tutting, and then when push comes to shove, defending the overall importance of grifters and nuts and even endorsing them, popularizes the worst ideas and that matters. It matters because when these same figures push the demoralization op that America is run by nefarious forces beyond your control, when you prop up and promote those people who do that sort of stuff, you make people’s lives worse. You’re making American politics worse, and that does make the world a worse place. Terrible low IQ slop ideas have consequences. Stop burnishing them,” Shapiro advised Vance.

BEN SHAPIRO: Just chill here. And Theo Von is basically just a Bernie Sanders leftist who does not like the censorious impulses of the left and engages in all the same conspiracy theories. And of course, his good friends with Candace Owens and all the rest of it. And that’s the guy that the vice president thinks that everybody should listen to. Now, listen, maybe the vice president thinks he has to kiss Theo Von’s half retarded ass in order to keep him in the coalition. And that’s his political calculation. I think it’s a bad political calculation. There is no politician who is fully capable of just picking up a prior president’s coalition and then just carrying it forward. It didn’t work for Hillary Clinton with Barack Obama. It’s not going to work for JD Vance with Donald Trump. Just because Theo Von and Joe Rogan back Trump doesn’t mean that they’re going to get behind Donald Trump. They’re going to get behind JD Vance. The reality is that the vice president’s current coalitional strategy, I think, is deeply flawed. It is hard for me to see how he doesn’t shrink President Trump’s coalition across the board. But that’s a political calculation. Maybe his is better than mine. It is certainly not a moral calculation. And the same is true of the vice president’s consistent defense of Tucker’s disgusting demoralization op, which has been in continuous operation for years at this point. Back in December 2025, he said, quote, the idea that Tucker Carlson was one of the largest podcasts in the world, who has millions of listeners, who supported Trump in the 2024 election. The idea that his views are somehow completely anathema to conservatism, that he has no place in the conservative movement, is frankly absurd. And I don’t think anybody actually believes it. That is what Vance said about Tucker. Now, you have to feel a little bit bad for Vice President Vance. Tucker helped him become vice president. The VP appreciates it, as he should. But now, because of his connections to Tucker or his desire to maintain Trump’s coalition, a coalition that is broad and complex, he’s been relegated to placating the crazies, assuming he doesn’t actually agree with them. So last night at TPUSA, he was asked a critical question about the Iran war. And his response was not to defend the president’s agenda. His response was this. VICE PRESIDENT J.D. VANCE: I recognize that a lot of young voters don’t love the policy that we have in the Middle East. Okay, I understand that. I also know that we’ve secured the border. We’ve lowered housing prices now for eight months in a row, and there’s going to be more to come beyond that. We’ve made America energy dominant, which has lowered electricity costs and things like that. We’ve made it so that we have the lowest murder rate in 127 years. I’m not saying you have to agree with me on every issue. I’m not saying you have to agree with me on every issue. What I’m saying is, don’t get disengaged because you disagree with the administration on one topic. Get more involved. Make your voice heard even more. That’s how we ultimately take the country back. SHAPIRO: Back from whom? So you disagree on Iran with the administration, that’s when you have to sound off and take the country back. Back from whom? The current president is Donald Trump. The vice president is the guy talking. If we’re taking the country back from someone else, then what are we talking about? So here’s the bottom line. It is not possible to humor low IQ slop and then assume it will not have consequences. Honoring garbage is exacerbating garbage. Laughing along with the purveyors of bullsh*t while occasionally tut-tutting, and then when push comes to shove, defending the overall importance of grifters and nuts and even endorsing them, popularizes the worst ideas and that matters. It matters because when these same figures push the demoralization op that America is run by nefarious forces beyond your control, when you prop up and promote those people who do that sort of stuff, you make people’s lives worse. You’re making American politics worse, and that does make the world a worse place. Terrible low IQ slop ideas have consequences. Stop burnishing them.

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