Ben Shapiro hammers Piers Morgan, brands Dave Smith 'America hater' after his Iran strike remarks

WASHINGTON, DC: Ben Shapiro lashed out at Piers Morgan for platforming Dave Smith’s fiery anti-US remarks, calling Morgan the “Jerry Springer of political television” and accusing Smith of flat-out hating America.

Ben Shapiro criticized Morgan on Wednesday, March 4, for giving a platform to Dave Smith, whom he termed an "America hater."

The clash began after Piers Morgan hosted libertarian comedian-turned-commentator Dave Smith on 'Piers Morgan Uncensored', where Smith blasted US and Israeli military actions against Iran.

Ben Shapiro attacks Piers Morgan and Dave Smith

Reacting on his own show, Ben Shapiro mocked Morgan’s format as spectacle-driven outrage.

He accused the British host of eroding serious discourse by booking what he described as fringe voices.

“Piers Morgan has sort of made a mockery of the entire industry by putting on screen whatever dregs are still willing to go on his show,” Shapiro added.

Shapiro called Morgan “the Jerry Springer of political television” before turning his attention to Dave Smith.

What triggered Shapiro’s fury were Smith’s remarks during the Morgan interview.

“The IDF is the worst organization in the region. Let’s get real. The United States of America is arguably the worst organization in the world,” Smith said.

He also accused the US of being dragged into yet another “neocon” war. For Shapiro, that crossed a line.

“I’m sorry, but you hate the country if you say America is the worst organization in the world. You just do,” he shot back.

Shapiro argued that Smith was blurring the line between groups that intentionally targeted civilians and nation-states engaged in military operations.

“To make that argument, you have to deliberately obscure the difference between those deliberately seeking to kill innocent people and nation-states trying to minimize civilian casualties while fighting them,” he said.

Shapiro didn’t just dispute Smith’s argument; he ridiculed it. He joked that Smith might hold the record for “fewest jokes told” as a comedian and dismissed his foreign policy analysis as poorly informed.

He also made it clear that he would not debate Smith, describing his views as too “idiotic” to justify engagement.

Dave Smith and Piers Morgan fire back on X

While not the focus of the clash, Smith later responded on X, mocking Shapiro as “an angry little guy” and accusing him of refusing to debate serious critics of US and Israeli foreign policy.

“That Ben Shapiro is an angry little guy. He insulted me a bunch on his show today and then once again said he refuses to debate me,” Smith said.

“After branding yourself the free speech debate guy, you refused to debate any competent critic of Israel or the warfare state,” he added.

He wrote, “No one really cares anymore” and claimed, “We have arguments, and all you have is the lowest IQ insults.”

Piers Morgan also fired back at Shapiro and wrote on X, "Amused to see Ben Shapiro being so snide about me today. Not sure what’s pissed him off so much - me being critical of the Israeli govt when it does things worthy of criticism, or Piers Uncensored becoming a more popular global show than his. Sorry, Ben!"