Ben Shapiro on Thursday slammed Vice PresidentJD Vance’s appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast this week, saying the likely frontrunner for the 2028 GOP presidential nomination “did not sound very conservative.”
The vice president sat down with Rogan for a podcast interview on Wednesday, as the U.S. and Iran resumed strikes following the dissolution of a peace deal that Vance himself helped negotiate. Vance and Rogan discussed the vice president’s role in overseeing the Iran negotiations, his belief that the Trump administration “screwed up” its communications on the Epstein files, and the rise of socialism on the Left.
In a Thursday episode of The Ben Shapiro Show, Shapiro hit Vance particularly over his comments on the latter topic and his views on Americans’ frustration with the country’s economic system over the past few decades.
“If I want a big, intrusive, anti-free-markets government or a foreign policy rooted in both moral relativism and weakness, if I want baseless conspiracy slop, I can just vote Democrat. But of course, that’s why I don’t vote Democrat because I oppose those things,” Shapiro said. And listen, I hope the vice president opposes those things, too. That’s why I’m concerned about the stuff he said on Joe Rogan. This is the front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2028.”
Shapiro clipped several comments from Vance about the GOP’s duty to counter the rise of socialism among young people in the United States. The vice president said it’s the job of Republicans “to give people a sense that the system is not rigged and that the American dream is attainable.”
“Man, we ran the experiment. We ran the experiment of offshoring all of our industrial jobs, of becoming a services and finance economy, and allowing Wall Street to come in and buy every asset of modern life and turn it into an investable, line-goes-up asset,” Vance said on The Joe Rogan Experience. “And what has that done? It’s created a generation of kids who, kind of, are attracted to socialism. You have to fix that problem.”
Countering Vance’s point, Shapiro argued that Vance was giving “credence to all of the straw men and lies of the socialists” about the offshoring of U.S. industries and the state of the service economy.
“When you keep giving credence to that, and then you say … we, the government, we must step in and convince people the system is not rigged? I don’t know how that sounds any different than Gavin Newsom, frankly,” Shapiro said.
Rogan and Shapiro, for what it’s worth, have different regular audiences on their platforms and differing personal viewpoints. Vance and President Donald Trump, who each went on Rogan’s podcast in the lead-up to the 2024 election, have engaged with Rogan in hopes of reaching his anti-establishment audience and non-traditional voters.
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Rogan’s viewership spans from staunch Make America Healthy Again advocates to more socially liberal viewers who agree with his opinions on marijuana legalization. While Vance has been vocal about his distaste for pacts such as the North American Free Trade Agreement — something Rogan has also expressed skepticism about — Shapiro, on the other hand, supports free trade and has much more traditional, conservative viewpoints.
Shapiro has also had a mixed history with the MAGA movement, supporting Trump in 2024 and 2020 but not in 2016.
A tense moment at Cedar Point Amusement Park left riders stranded vertically on the Siren’s Curse roller coaster just before a major drop. The incident occurred twice over the weekend, but all riders were safely evacuated and no injuries were reported.
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Florida officials recently revealed that a Disney World guest died after experiencing a cardiac emergency on a fan-favorite ride.
The visitor, a 54-year-old man, suffered a heart-related emergency on the “It’s a Small World” ride in the Fantasyland section of Disney World’s Magic Kingdom on April 2, according to the state’s latest quarterly report on theme park injuries and illnesses.
The man was taken to a hospital where he later died, FOX 35 Orlando reported.
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The guest, who has not been identified, had a pre-existing condition, the report said.
The iconic ride opened at Magic Kingdom in 1971 and has enjoyed “immense popularity” since, according to Disney World’s website. Fox News Digital reached out to Walt Disney World Resort for comment.
Florida officials reported that a Disney World guest died after experiencing a cardiac emergency while riding “It’s a Small World” at Magic Kingdom. The man had a pre-existing heart condition. (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The park describes the ride as a “whimsical boat ride past a jubilant chorus of children from around the globe.”
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“Cruise along the Seven Seaways Waterway on a gentle 10-minute journey through all 7 continents,” the site says.
The iconic “It’s a Small World” attraction has welcomed guests at Magic Kingdom since the park opened in 1971. (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The recent report listed five other medical incidents at Disney World this spring.
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It said a 75-year-old woman hit her head while leaving Space Mountain in May, while another woman hit her head on the Snow Stormers water slide in April.
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In addition, a 44-year-old man suffered back pain while riding Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in May, FOX 35 reported.
The state report identified the Disney World case as one of several medical incidents during the reporting period. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
After riding “Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind” the same month, a 74-year-old man with a pre-existing condition reportedly experienced nausea and vomiting, the report added.
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Fatal incidents at U.S. theme parks are rare, though deaths from ride accidents and medical emergencies have been reported in the past.