‘That Is Retarded’: Ben Shapiro Goes After Fellow AmericaFest Speakers, Candace Owens; Erika Kirk Makes 2028 Presidential Endorsement During Speech
By Daily Caller. The Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro criticized fellow media figures and speakers Thursday during his speech at AmericaFest.
Turning Point USA opened its annual AmericaFest conference Thursday at the Phoenix Convention Center, presenting the four-day event as a celebration of faith, freedom, and the legacy of founder Charlie Kirk. Speaking at the event, Shapiro said media figures must take responsibility for their words, actions, hiring decisions, and guest choices, adding that hosts owe audiences tough, fact-driven questioning regardless of whether they agree with the guest.
“We have a duty to take responsibility for what we say and do. If we hire awful people, we’re responsible for that. I have some experience there, as you might suspect. That means that if we offer a guest for your viewing, we owe it to you to ask the kinds of questions that actually get at the truth,” Shapiro said. “If we agree with a guest, that’s fine, but we should own it. So, for example, if you host a Hitler-apologist, Nazi-loving, anti-American piece of refuse like Nick Fuentes. You know, the Nick Fuentes who said that the Vice President of the United States is a, quote, fat, gay race traitor married to a jeet.”
Shapiro referenced past remarks Nick Fuentes made during his AmericaFest speech, pointing to Fuentes’ comments about the TPUSA founder. (Read more from “‘That Is Retarded’: Ben Shapiro Goes After Fellow AmericaFest Speakers, Candace Owens” HERE)
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Erika Kirk Makes 2028 Presidential Endorsement During AmFest Speech
By Daily Caller. Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk used her speech Thursday at AmericaFest 2025 to map out Republican strategy for the next two election cycles.
TPUSA’s annual AmericaFest conference kicked off Thursday at the Phoenix Convention Center, with organizers framing the four-day gathering as a celebration of faith, freedom, and the legacy of founder Charlie Kirk. During her speech, Kirk told the crowd that Republicans are shifting away from a narrow focus on individual contests and toward a broader, long-term state strategy aimed at locking in durable electoral gains.
🚨 ERIKA KIRK at AmericaFest: "We are going to get my husband's friend J.D. Vance elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible!" pic.twitter.com/9bvbACLs39
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 19, 2025
“For both 2026 and 2028, we’re investing in states and not just in races. So, what I mean by that is we are building the red wall,” Kirk said. “Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire, that’s going to be very important to us. We’re going to ensure that President Trump has Congress for all four years. We are going to get my husband’s friend, JD Vance, elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible.” (Read more from “Erika Kirk Makes 2028 Presidential Endorsement During AmFest Speech” HERE)
