Ben Shapiro Says a Trump Endorsement Doesn’t Hold a Lot of Power — But He Can Still ‘Destroy’ People

Ben Shapiro offered a nuanced stance this week while discussing the power of former President Donald Trump to influence the Republican Party.

During Wednesday’s episode of The Ben Shapiro Show, the host said, “Speaking of Donald Trump and the kind of power he holds over to the Republican Party. The answer is on the local level — not much. So what I mean by this is that Donald Trump’s endorsement can move a few votes, maybe a few.”

After referencing several state races where Trump endorsed candidates, Shapiro said, “What it seems like is if Donald Trump targets you and decides that you are an enemy, then it is unlikely that you win. So there’s a difference between Donald Trump endorsing a person, which I don’t think has a lot of power. And Donald Trump destroying people.”

“Donald Trump still has the power to destroy, but I’m not sure that he has the power to build,” he added. “And the question is gonna be what happens when he tries that power of destruction against somebody who actually has the loyalty of Republican base? Like if you look forward to 2024, like he actually tried to destroy Brian Kemp in Georgia.”

“It wasn’t just that he endorsed David Perdue. He actually talked about how Brian Kemp was terrible and horrible and no good and very bad. And Brian Kemp won because he had earned the loyalty of the Republican voting base in Georgia, despite Trump’s anger at Brian Kemp,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro concluded with his prediction for the future, saying, “It shows that Trump is not invulnerable. What these primaries show is that Trump does not have the sort of stranglehold the media thinks he has on the Republican Party more broadly.”

Listen above via The Ben Shapiro Show.