A podcast conference organizer is pleading for
forgiveness because Ben Shapiro happened to show
up as a podcaster to the podcast conference.
So the podcast movement conference is being held in Dallas.
The group calls itself, quote the largest,
the world's largest community of podcasters.
Now, if you are putting a conference together of podcasters,
you should probably allow people from different perspectives to be there but
in this case, apparently Ben Shapiro is unacceptable.
So, in a tweet, it was communicated this high folks,
we owe you an apology before sessions kick off for the day.
Yesterday afternoon, Ben Shapiro briefly visited
the PM 22 expo area near The Daily Wire booth.
Though he was not registered or expected,
we take full responsibility for the harm done by his presence.
Okay and let me just stop for a second.
Ben Shapiro is the founder of the Daily Wire.
The Daily Wire has a booth at this conference.
So you should probably expect Ben Shapiro to show up and he did right and
while I disagree with Ben Shapiro, I've debated Ben Shapiro,
I'm just gonna come out and say it right off the bat.
I think this is embarrassing cuz it makes it look like people who disagree with
Ben Shapiro can't even handle his presence when in reality we should feel confident
in our beliefs and we should be willing to debate those beliefs without fear.
Instead of just banning people we disagree with.
Let me continue.
There's no way around it.
We agreed to sell The Daily Wire a first time booth based on the company's
large presence and podcasting.
The weight of the decision is now painfully clear, Shapiro is a co-founder
a drop in, however unlikely should have been considered a possibility.
Those of you who called this unacceptable.
He claims are right.
I would you are wrong in nine wonderful years growing and
celebrating this medium, PM has made mistakes.
The pain caused by this one will always stick with us.
We promise that sponsors will be more carefully considered moving forward.
And let me give you one more tweet from this unbelievable thread.
Just to clarify note, Daily Wire representatives were scheduled to appear
on panels and Shapiro remained in the common space and did not have a badge.
If you have questions, we're here to talk.
Thank you for reading and we hope you'll continue to join us from here on out.
And Shapiro's response to it, he quote tweeted one of the tweets in those
threads and said literally shaking right now.
You know, ironically that's what some on the left say when they're,
criticizing someone on the right podcast movement is threatening my right to exist.
This is eraser.
So you make it look like you're afraid of challenging Ben Shapiro and
there's no reason why we should be afraid of that.
It's just ridiculous.
>> Yeah, it's a disaster.
So look guys, do we agree with her?
Of course not.
Right. Do we take him one?
Yeah, gleefully.
So do I think that in a lot of ways he's a bigot.
Yes.
Let me give you his tweet that that has been quoted many times.
Is it just an obvious example?
One of many he wrote once Israelis like to build,
Arabs like to bomb crab and live in open sewage.
This is not a difficult issue.
Hashtag settlements rock.
So my family's Muslim, I think that's an incredibly offensive tweet.
I'm not harmed by being in the same room as him.
It's not a harm.
Okay.
Look, we shouldn't be afraid of them, they should be afraid of us.
And I don't mean in the weirdo physical way that the right wing talks about,
I mean rhetorically, politically, ideologically in the battle of ideas,
they should be absolutely shaking and
we pulverize them in that battlefield all the time.
That's why the right wing, in a lot of ways hates us and
in a lot of ways secretly respects us cuz we're not afraid of them.
We punch them in the face rhetorically all the time, right?
And they're not used to there used to democrats who cower, right?
And we don't cower, we fight them and we win but
what we don't do is, my God, they're in the room.
So what, why are you traumatized by that?
So go take him on ideologically what?
I just don't get it, you make yourself look super weak when you do that and
you play into their hands, don't do that.
>> Yeah and I mean, I just I feel like there's an entire cottage
industry of left wing podcasters who dedicate the majority
of their content to infighting within the left.
So they're not afraid to criticize their own allies, but maybe spend a little
more time challenging the ideas of Ben Shapiro instead of pretending like
he doesn't exist whether you like it or not, he exists whether you like it or not.
He's got a massive audience.
And so the best way to fight back is to fight back against
those ideas, to challenge those ideas.
And instead they're responding to his presence as if he's like something
to fear, like, my God, he was in the same room as us is unacceptable.
Look, if you're not like emotionally prepared to be in this space and
if you're not emotionally prepared to have your
ideas challenged while simultaneously challenging the ideas of others,
find another line of work the same for you, like this coddling that some people,
not all, but some people broadly speaking on the left are expecting is so
embarrassing and I don't want that to be representative of what the left is like.
Because that, I mean, good example is Ben burgess, right?
So if you're unfamiliar with him, he is a philosophy professor,
he also does all sorts of really, really great content.
But what I respect about him, he's like on the left, he identifies as a socialist.
He'll debate anybody.
Anyone doesn't care.
And I love watching those debates because he knows he's got the facts on his side.
He does his thing and it makes us look smart and strong.
That's what we should be going for.
Instead.
It looks like we're running away from our opponents.
And I can't stand that.
Yeah, look, this is important, not just for this issue, but for all issues,
there is no the left.
Okay.
And there is no universal opinion of the left.
So on some issues there's a lot more unanimity.
So most people on the left 1 15 dominant wage that they want Medicare for
all etc, right?
But there are many things that we do not agree on at all.
And so was the podcast movement,
did they actually receive a lot of people who said, my God, they were emotionally
traumatized by Ben Shapiro appearing in the same state as them etcetera.
Right?
I'm sure that that existed.
I'm sure that's what they're responding to.
That's why they say absurd things like the pain caused by this
will stick with us forever.
Like what do you what?
No, it's to quote kevin, he great Youtube greater.
We're not supposed to get the emotional damage they're supposed to get.
Okay, So no, and by the way,
there's a giant faction of the left who believes goddamn right.
You fight back.
You made the mistake of being in the same room as me.
I'm not stuck in the room with you.
You're stuck in the room with me.
Okay, so that's the right attitude to have, Let's go fight the sons of bitches
again politically, rhetorically and ideologically.
And and stop being like playing to their stereotypes.
I mean, look, we both debated Ben Shapiro and it was fun.
It was fun because I believe in what we talk about on the show.
I believe in the policies that we promote on this program and any opportunity I
have to present those arguments to a different a new audience is a good thing.
I think part of the problem is we like to be in these comfortable little echo
chambers, but that doesn't accomplish anything that doesn't lead us toward
the progress that we desperately need.
So again, instead of running away from our opponents,
we need to challenge them head on.
Yeah.
And look, and it's so easy to beat him.
What do you what do you like?
Yeah, I mean, look, the guy said, he wrote a whole book against porn when his
audience 200% of his audience watches porn, 200% of the time.
So like, I mean, this is like, it's a joke when he and I debated,
he he did and I respect the game.
I respect the player.
He packed the audience.
We've done that in the past.
And even so when I talked about, Hey, how about money in politics?
And he defended rich people, buying off politicians,
Even his own crowd was like uncomfortable.
We don't really agree with that.
Right?
So they're relatively easy to beat.
Just get in the game instead of worrying about him being in the room.
Let's go.