Overview: Buckley Carlson, 28, publicly defended his father after Ben Shapiro suggested young Americans who can’t afford to live in the U.S. consider leaving. The clash is part of a broader feud between Shapiro and Tucker Carlson that intensified after Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes. Observers say the dispute highlights widening divisions within the MAGA and pro‑Trump movement. The Daily Beast sought comment from Shapiro but received no immediate reply.
Tucker Carlson’s Son Fires Back at Ben Shapiro as MAGA Rift Widens
OLIVIER TOURON / AFP via Getty Images
Tucker Carlson’s son, Buckley Carlson, has publicly defended his father amid an escalating dispute between prominent conservative voices that underscores deepening divisions within the pro‑Trump movement.
Buckley Carlson, 28, who serves as a deputy press secretary in Senator J.D. Vance’s office, posted on X in response to a clip of political commentator Ben Shapiro’s appearance on the Triggernometry podcast. In the excerpt, Shapiro suggested that young Americans who cannot afford to live in the United States might consider relocating to places with “better opportunity.”
“If you’re a young person and you can’t afford to live here, then maybe you should not live here,” Shapiro said in the clip.
Buckley reacted sharply, calling it “hard to fathom” that Shapiro — who he described as lecturing the conservative movement “endlessly, angrily” — would offer such guidance to young people grappling with the economy. He accused Shapiro and his allies of advocating policies that contributed to current economic hardships.
The exchange comes amid a long‑running feud between Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson, which intensified after Carlson invited Nick Fuentes — a white nationalist and Holocaust denier — for a widely criticized interview on The Tucker Carlson Show. Shapiro devoted an episode of The Ben Shapiro Show to excoriating Carlson, calling him an “intellectual coward,” a “dishonest interlocutor,” and a “terrible friend,” and accusing him of embracing conspiratorial rhetoric since leaving Fox News in 2023.
Buckley Carlson waded into the MAGA civil war in a post on X on Saturday. / Legistorm
At Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, Shapiro publicly condemned Carlson for giving Fuentes a platform, calling the decision indefensible. Carlson responded at the same event with a quip about having missed the beginning of the program while Shapiro was speaking.
Observers say the spat between Carlson and Shapiro reflects broader tensions within MAGA and the “America First” wing of the conservative movement, where personalities and policy disputes have produced public clashes among former allies.
The Daily Beast said it reached out to Shapiro for comment and received no immediate response.
Background: Buckley Carlson is one of Tucker Carlson’s four children with his wife, Susan Andrews. He worked as an aide to then‑Rep. Jim Banks (R‑Indiana) from 2019 to 2024 before joining Senator J.D. Vance’s staff earlier this year.
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