The ideological civil war on the right finally went fully public Friday night at AmericaFest, and there was no mistaking it. What had been simmering behind podcasts, social media posts, and thinly veiled jabs exploded on stage when Steve Bannon went scorched earth on Ben Shapiro, accusing him of being anti-MAGA, anti-Trump, and aligned with foreign policy priorities that, in Bannon’s telling, put America last.
The clash capped a chaotic few days at Turning Point USA’s annual AmericaFest. Shapiro had spoken the night before and used his platform to lecture large swaths of the conservative movement. He blasted commentators who refused to publicly condemn Candace Owens, calling their silence “cowardice,” while also taking swings at Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and Bannon himself.
Shapiro’s speech was less a rally cry and more a warning shot. He criticized Carlson over an interview with Nick Fuentes, prompting Carlson to fire back later that night with mockery and a defense of open debate. Kelly followed up the next day with a jab of her own, turning AmericaFest into something closer to a live-action group chat argument than a unity conference.
But Shapiro saved some of his sharpest words for Bannon, accusing him of smearing political opponents with claims of foreign loyalty and adding, “Which is indeed par for the course for a man who was once a PR flack for Jeffrey Epstein. Check the record.” That line landed like a thrown chair, and Bannon clearly came prepared to respond.
When Bannon took the stage the following night, he did not disappoint anyone looking for subtlety. He dismissed Shapiro as “the farthest thing from MAGA” and labeled him a “hardcore never-Trumper,” walking the crowd through Shapiro’s opposition to President Trump in 2016, his departure from Breitbart, and his early support for Ron DeSantis. Bannon accused Shapiro of trying to seize control of conservative institutions and warned that Turning Point USA could be next.
Bannon framed the entire dispute as bigger than personalities. To him, it was about power, loyalty, and whether conservatives believe America should make decisions for Americans, a principle he said defined the late Charlie Kirk. The message was clear. This was not about deplatforming or hurt feelings. It was about who gets to steer the movement and whether MAGA populism or establishment conservatism sets the rules.
AmericaFest was supposed to showcase the future of the conservative movement. Instead, it revealed just how divided that future really is.
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