Ep. 793 - The Enemy Of The People

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Ben Shapiro argues that media outlets and politicians are weaponizing politics, culture, and tech platforms to control speech and punish opponents. He criticizes the Daily Beast for exposing a random Facebook user over a doctored Pelosi video, frames Democratic 2020 candidates as increasingly radical and performative, warns against government meddling in Facebook/Amazon/Google, and laments the culture war’s spread into everyday life.

Main Topics: Daily Beast’s investigation into a Pelosi meme (Priority: 5/5): Shapiro says the Daily Beast unfairly doxxed a random Facebook user over a slowed-down Pelosi clip, treating a trivial online prank as a major scandal and exposing private details for clicks. Media bias, clickbait, and privacy (Priority: 5/5): He argues mainstream and left-leaning media selectively target conservatives while ignoring similar behavior on the left, using personal details and criminal history to shame private citizens. Tech platforms, censorship, and political control (Priority: 5/5): Shapiro criticizes Democrats and Republicans alike for trying to pressure Facebook, Amazon, and Google into serving political goals, warning that government control over platforms threatens free speech. 2020 Democratic primary radicalization (Priority: 4/5): He portrays the Democratic field as moving leftward, with candidates like Warren, Harris, Gillibrand, Booker, and Buttigieg pandering to the party’s activist base while Biden appears vulnerable. Culture war and celebrity politics (Priority: 4/5): Shapiro argues that culture and politics are merging, citing Taylor Swift and other celebrities as evidence that the left dominates cultural institutions and forces conservatives into politics as a defensive response. Social issues and religious liberty (Priority: 3/5): He criticizes progressive activism on abortion and LGBTQ issues as coercive, while also objecting to religious intolerance on the Temple Mount and to government or corporate intrusion into private beliefs.

Key Arguments: The Daily Beast’s story about the Pelosi video was excessive because the video was a minor internet prank and the subject was a private citizen, not a public official or campaign operative. Publishing a private citizen’s criminal record, workplace history, family connections, and other personal details over a political meme is click-driven, punitive journalism rather than public-interest reporting. Facebook and other tech companies should remain neutral platforms rather than become partisan editorial boards or tools of state pressure. Both the left and the Trump administration show authoritarian instincts when they try to control media companies, speech, or online distribution. The Democratic Party’s activist base is pushing candidates leftward, and figures like Gillibrand and Warren are adapting by embracing more radical positions and theatrical identity politics. Celebrity political endorsements matter because the culture is now deeply politicized, and the right feels shut out of entertainment, media, and social institutions. Government efforts to regulate or discipline companies like Google and Amazon are framed as political retaliation rather than legitimate antitrust enforcement. Scientific and media discourse often ignore biological sex differences despite evidence that males and females respond differently in research and medicine. Religious discrimination is tolerated when it targets Jews on the Temple Mount, which Shapiro cites as evidence of double standards in media coverage of Israel.

Data Points: Facebook shares of Pelosi clip: more than 60,000 - Daily Beast article claims the doctored Pelosi video spread widely on Facebook. Facebook page views from links: 4 million - The Pelosi clip generated millions of page views through linked traffic. James Woods engagement: 17,000 retweets and 55,000 likes - The actor’s tweet helped spread the Pelosi video. Brooks alleged ad revenue: nearly $1,000 - The Facebook-page operator said the video brought in shared ad revenue. Harvard poll approval rating: 48% - Shapiro says Trump at this level would likely win reelection. Drug-research policy date: 2016 - NIH and Canadian counterpart required preclinical research they fund to include female subjects. Federal tipped minimum wage: $2.13 an hour - AOC cited this while discussing bartending and tipped labor. Antitrust market share: more than 90% - Wall Street Journal note on Google’s share of global internet search activity. Search ad market share: more than 60% - Google’s share of the world’s search ad market per eMarketer. Google advertising revenue forecast: more than $135 billion this year - Journal report on Google’s expected ad revenue. Amazon other-category revenue: $11 billion trailing 12 months ending in March - Primarily advertising revenue, per the Wall Street Journal. Pride Month hashtag: #PrideMonth / #Pride - Elizabeth Warren and other politicians used Pride branding in social-media messaging.

Pivotal Quotes: "The media really doing yeoman's work over the weekend." — Ben Shapiro: Opening critique of the Daily Beast’s Pelosi video story and the press’s priorities. "If you think that's the case, remember when the government was in the fairness doctrine business and decided that they were going to operate how much conservative content could be put on your radio?" — Ben Shapiro: Argument against government control of tech platforms and media distribution. "It is so awkward. It is like Hillary Clinton on awkward steroids." — Ben Shapiro: Description of Elizabeth Warren’s Pride Month video and broader campaign style.

Implications: The episode argues that media, tech, and politics are converging into a system that punishes dissent and rewards ideological performance. For listeners, the warning is that free expression, private life, and neutral platforms are increasingly under pressure from both parties and culture-war activists.