Ben Shapiro Shreds Tucker Carlson’s ‘Extremely Dubious’ CIA Spying Claim: He ‘Enjoys Playing the Victim’

Ben Shapiro went off on rival Tucker Carlson on Monday, saying his claim that the CIA was spying on his text messages leading up to the war in Iran is “extremely dubious” and most likely just another example that shows Carlson “enjoys playing the victim.”

Shapiro shredded Carlson’s claim on the latest episode of his podcast.

“Maybe this is yet another stupid cycle of Jussie Smollett victimhood from the same grievance party that always traffics in such faux-victimhood,” Shapiro said. “The same grievance party that plays host to Candace Owens, who claims the French were trying to kill her.”

He said there’s a decent chance Carlson was “incidentally caught up in a sweep,” where the CIA is monitoring the communications of foreign adversaries like Iran. But Shapiro said it was unlikely President Donald Trump — who Carlson routinely meets with at the White House — is leading a “Nixonian conspiracy” to silence the pundit.

Shapiro then pointed to Carlson’s son, Buckley Carlson, working as Vice President JD Vance’s deputy press secretary as another reason why he finds it hard to believe the Trump administration is targeting him.

So why would Carlson lie about being spied on? Shapiro said it is because Carlson loves playing the victim and has a “history of lying.” He pointed to Carlson’s 2021 claim that the NSA was spying on him and aiming to “take [his] show off the air”; Carlson continued to host his program for another two years before he was booted by Fox News.

Shapiro also referenced Axios reporter Marc Caputo in his podcast, after Caputo reported on Sunday that top administration officials said the theory Trump knew Carlson was being monitored by the CIA during their recent conversations was “b*llshit.”

Carlson’s penchant for victimhood spurred him to follow PR 101 rules and get ahead of the story on Saturday, once he found out his texts were part of a larger intel operation, Shapiro argued. He said that allowed Carlson to get friends like Owens and Marjorie Taylor Greene to rally behind him and possibly lay the foundation for an anti-Trump coalition in 2028.

Shapiro’s takedown comes after Carlson said late on Saturday he expected the Justice Department to charge him with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Carlson said the CIA had recommended he be charged after the agency read his texts with “people in Iran” before Operation Epic Fury started.

He denied any wrongdoing and said he has never received any money from a foreign country.

“I’m not an agent of a foreign power,” Carlson said. “Unlike a lot of people commenting on U.S. politics and global affairs, I have only one loyalty and that’s the United States and have never acted against it.”

Shapiro on Monday said he believed Carlson.

“It is highly unlikely that Tucker Carlson is about to be hit with a FARA prosecution,” he said. “I believe him when he says he’s not being paid by outside sources. I think Tucker Carlson is being truly anti-American all on his own.”

Watch above via YouTube.

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