'Silly and untrue': Ben Shapiro hits back at Tucker Carlson's jibes on 'The Megyn Kelly Show'

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro appeared on the January 2 episode of 'The Megyn Kelly Show' to discuss, among other things, his disagreement with journalist Tucker Carlson, the conflict taking place within the Republican party, and the fracturing of the political right in the United States.

Mentioning the past exchange between Carlson and Shapiro, Kelly stated that as the two went back and forth on topics such as the Israel-Gaza conflict, it has at times gotten "a bit personal" on Tucker's end.

What did Tucker Carlson say about Ben Shapiro?

In a recent interview with Saagar Enjeti, Carlson responded to a question about Shapiro without naming him, saying, "There are people on the 'right' who have spent the last two months focused on a conflict in a foreign country as our own country becomes dangerously unstable, on the brink of financial collapse, with tens of millions of people who shouldn't be here in the country."

He claimed that these people spoke nothing of the real threat to the country, the illegal immigration problem, and instead are "focused with laser intensity on foreign conflicts."

"They don't care about the country at all, and that's kind of their prerogative, but I do," he continued, "because I am from here, my family's been here hundreds of years, I gotta stay here. Like, I'm shocked by how little they care about the country, including the person you mentioned."

"I can't imagine how someone like that (Shapiro) could get an audience of people who claim to care about America, because he doesn't, obviously," added Carlson.

Ben Shapiro responds to Tucker Carlson's statements

When Kelly asked for Shapiro's response, he admitted his astonishment at Carlson's stance.

"I would never doubt (Carlson's) love for the country, even though he and I disagree wildly about a number of topics," he stated, before launching into an explanation.

"First of all, he attributed to me a bunch of things that are simply not true," he stated, claiming that the listeners of his show, whose number has grown sizably over the last several months, know that addresses all the issues that Carlson mentioned, "including the border issue."

"(Carlson) attributes to me in the interview the (opinion) that the United States has some sort of duty to import Palestinians from Gaza. I overtly oppose that because it's ridiculous, silly, and would be awful for the (country). So he just attributes to me a bunch of views that I don't hold and then proceeds to say that I don't care about the country," he continued.

"Obviously that's silly and untrue. I think it's part and parcel of something that Tucker has had a habit of doing recently, which is, we disagree therefore you do not care about the people that I care about, you don't care about the country," Shapiro slammed back.

"As for the notion that his people have been here for hundreds of years, all four of my grandparents on both sides have been here since the early 1900s," he shared. "I also have no intention of moving. I don't know what more there is to say about that other than it's an absurd accusation. It's unfortunate, and I certainly don't feel that way about Tucker as much as I disagree with (him)."

Kelly, for her part, noted she knows both Carlson and Shapiro very well and hopes that they will soon move past their "skirmish."