Ben Shapiro

Benjamin Aaron "Ben" Shapiro (born: ) is an American conservative political commentator, debater, public speaker, and commentary & podcast YouTuber. He is a founding member as well as the former editor-in-chief at The Daily Wire. 
All of Ben's podcasts are political with a length to 20-60 minutes. He runs a popular eponymous podcast called "The Ben Shapiro Show". He has also hosted two "Meme Reviews", a series created by PewDiePie. As of June 2023, he is the largest conservative commentator on YouTube with over 5.89 million subscribers. Ben Shapiro also features in the movie "Lady Ballers" produced by the Daily Wire.
==Early life==
Shapiro was born in Los Angeles, California to a Jewish family. His parents both worked in Hollywood: his mother worked as a TV company executive and his father was a composer. From a young age, Shapiro had a strong passion for the violin and was a naturally gifted player, performing at the Israel Bonds Banquet in 1996 at twelve years old.
Shapiro went from Walter Reed Middle School to Yeshiva University High School of Los Angeles, having skipped third and ninth grade. He graduated from high school in 2000 at age 16. He graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and then cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2007.
==Personal life==
He is married to Mor Toledano, an Israeli doctor of Moroccan descent. The two married in 2008 and have four children, two daughters and two sons. They practice Orthodox Judaism.
Ben is the cousin of writer and actress Mara Wilson, though the two have no contact with each other due to their conflicting political views.
Ben's younger sister Abigail has her own YouTube channel, Classically Abby, where she advertises herself as a "conservative influencer".
==Controversies==
Ben Shapiro's history has been riddled with controversies long before he even started his YouTube career. During his news editing days at Breitbart, he claimed that Piers Morgan was a 'bully' who was 'standing on the grave of children'.https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/01/breitbart-editor-piers-morgan-a-bully-standing-on-the-graves-of-dead-children-153928 
His series Reality Check is no exception from controversies either with him claiming that Thanksgiving wasn't a group of Native Americans helping the pilgrims but rather a single Native convent agreeing to peace with the pilgrims while the other Natives fought against them.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5KH-BSqqKI Other claims in this series also include the false belief that the United States was not responsible for funding Islamic terrorism in the Middle East and that ISIS represents all Muslims.
===Arabophobia===
Shapiro is an extreme Zionist. He displays an alarming level of hostility towards Arabs, particularly Palestinians, exhibiting strong intolerance. In a 2003 op-ed titled "Transfer is not a dirty word," Shapiro, who was 19 at the time, advocated for the expulsion of all ethnic Arabs from both Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories and Israel itself, asserting that Arab-Israeli peace was unattainable.https://web.archive.org/web/20210302021645/https://townhall.com/columnists/benshapiro/2003/08/27/transfer-is-not-a-dirty-word-n976781 
He drew a comparison to the post-World War II expulsion of Germans, even though it resulted in significant loss of life.https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/09/03/the-forgotten-story-of-when-the-germans-were-the-refugees/ In 2013, Shapiro somewhat retracted these views, shifting from advocating "population transfer" to endorsing "population separation," without outlining how this could be achieved.https://townhall.com/columnists/benshapiro/2013/03/13/what-can-israel-do-n1532133 He did not support a one-state or two-state solution, merely acknowledging an ongoing occupation of Palestine.https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/02/prominent-hagel-detractor-endorses-fascistic-vision-of-israel/273349/
The problematic aspects of Shapiro's views extend further. In 2007, he authored an editorial for Creators, titled "The Radical Evil Of The Palestinian Arab Population," where he referred to Palestinians as fundamentally corrupt. He depicted them as a population tainted by extreme anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism, undermining contemporary political principles.https://www.creators.com/read/ben-shapiro/06/07/the-radical-evil-of-the-palestinian-arab-population
In 2021, after briefly discussing issues related to African-Americans, Shapiro returned to criticizing Arabs following Israeli police's forceful handling of a protest near the Al-Aqsa mosque. Despite the protest's actual focus on Palestinian evictions, Shapiro portrayed it as an act of anti-Jewish terrorism led by Hamas.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njEeRTekraU Subsequently, Hamas launched rocket attacks on Israel. When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attributed these attacks to the Israeli police's Islamophobic actions at Al-Aqsa mosque, Shapiro disregarded her criticisms and labeled her an anti-Semitic terrorist sympathizer. He also claimed that the conflict was solely about animosity towards Jews, disregarding the context of Israel's initial occupation of Palestinian territory.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEvbT0sk7mk
===Transphobia===
Shapiro's views on transgender individuals are highly discriminatory and prejudiced. He adamantly denies the identity of trans women as women,https://web.archive.org/web/20180511094929/https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/932504794328993797 insisting that being transgender is a form of mental illness.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mApfngf_gl4 When trans actor Elliot Page publicly shared his transgender identity, Shapiro initially claimed not to care, but then went on an extensive rant, characterizing Page's coming out as "awkward," "creepy," "disgusting," and "pathetic."https://tyt.com/stories/16AJOKzVziKkKMUmsIUqMY/7mgMvOEk9n8ipaBQLXceuH
In an interview with Blaire White on the subject of gendered language, Shapiro argued that people should only be referred to using pronouns and titles based on their biological sex, while he did acknowledge name changes.https://www.spectator.com.au/2018/01/whats-in-a-gender-pronoun-a-response-to-ben-shapiro/ He continued to perpetuate the false notion that transgender individuals' suicide rates do not decrease after transitioning.https://web.archive.org/web/20160516121919/https://www.dailywire.com/news/5683/3-facts-about-transgenderism-media-ignored-push-ben-shapirohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkONHNXGfaMhttps://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/suicidality-transgender-adults/https://kathrynhgordon.com/2018/05/14/fact-checking-5-suicide-related-statements-from-a-viral-ben-shapiro-video/
During a discussion on HLN involving Caitlyn Jenner, Shapiro contended that all transgender people are suffering from a delusion. This assertion led to a debate with Dr. Drew Pinsky, a psychiatrist who specializes in mental health and gender-related concerns, while Shapiro's expertise lies as a lawyer.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgQy70_LPS4
In the same HLN conversation, Shapiro repeatedly addressed Zoey Tur, a transgender woman correspondent, using "Sir" to refer to her.https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/07/17/inside_editions_zoe_tur_threatens_to_send_breitbarts_ben_shapiro_home_in_an_ambulance_over_jenner_debate.html Tur responded by placing her hand on Shapiro's shoulder and warning him to stop, saying "You cut that out now, or you'll go home in an ambulance." Afterwards, Shapiro filed a police report for battery against Tur.https://web.archive.org/web/20160330024057/https://dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Screen-Shot-2015-07-20-at-4.48.39-PM.png
In April 2023, Shapiro expressed the belief that communities should be allowed to prohibit "men wearing traditional female clothing in public," drawing a comparison between crossdressing and nudity.https://www.mediamatters.org/ben-shapiro/ben-shapiro-says-local-communities-should-be-able-ban-men-wearing-traditional-female
==Quotes==
*"My producers dragged me to see 'Barbie and it was one of the most woke movies I have ever seen."
*"Destroyed by FACTS and LOGIC"
*"Facts don't care about your feelings"
*"Let's say, hypothetically..."
*"For the sake of the argument..."
*"My wife is a doctor"
*"Alrighty folks..."
==Subscriber milestones==
==Gallery==
File:Classicallyabby12.JPG|Shapiro and his sister
==References==
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Commentary YouTubers
Category:News YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2016
Category:One billion views
Category:One million subscribers
Category:Two million subscribers
Category:Three million subscribers
Category:Four million subscribers
Category:Five million subscribers
Category:Book-narrating YouTubers