Ben Shapiro: “Yesterday on Joe Rogan, the vice president did not sound very conservative”
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From the July 16, 2026, edition of The Daily Wire's The Ben Shapiro Show
BEN SHAPIRO (HOST): Okay. So, again, I want to sum those principles up because, as we'll get to, they are in controversy. So if you are conservative, you ought to generally believe, one, in private property and free markets, not just because of utilitarian concerns, but morally, because free markets are good, and private property is good. There is exceptions, of course, but that is the general rule. Two, you ought to believe in a realist but moral foreign policy, that America has moral interests in the world, but also be realistic about the fact the world is not a kind place. And third, you ought to believe very conservative in responsibility and duty and, yes, the meritocracy. And one of the big enemies of all of that is baseless conspiracy theorizing.
So here's the thing. 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. 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. I'm also concerned about the stuff that he has written in his book because I've read his book. Yesterday on Joe Rogan, the vice president did not sound very conservative. The vice president seems to want to beat the Democrats by joining them in a lot of key ways. That may sound like a smart strategy. As we'll discuss in a moment, we'll look at the stats. I do not think it is. Maybe it's about being cool.