Ben Shapiro claims the controversy surrounding his turn as a guest writer of Politico’s Playbook has extended to conservatives slated to follow him in the editorial role.
In a Twitter thread posted Tuesday evening, the editor emeritus of the Daily Wire claimed Townhall’s Guy Benson and Mary Katharine Ham, a CNN commentator, were uninvited from serving as guest writers after his own turn in the role attracted controversy. Shapiro said the two right-wing political personalities were told that the magazine was “overbooked,” but he speculated that the motivations for the cancellations were more biased in nature.
“Politico’s blow-up over me writing Playbook wasn’t about me being cancelled — it was about woke staffers cudgeling editors into never reaching across the aisle again,” he wrote, adding in a later tweet, “message received. Conservatives are pre-emptively cancelled. Homogeneity maintained. Polarization increased. Well done, wokescolds!”
My friends @guypbenson and @mkhammer were also asked to jointly guest-write Playbook. I know this because they told me so the day of the firestorm. The editors had sought them out and said they were enthused about having them (the same thing that happened with me).
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 27, 2021
Eventually they gave Guy and MKH an excuse — they’d overbooked. The same excuse you give your in-laws to avoid dinner. I know this because I noticed their bylines never appeared, and I asked Guy and MKH what happened. So they told me.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 27, 2021
Message received. Conservatives are pre-emptively cancelled. Homogeneity maintained. Polarization increased. Well done, wokescolds! The world is still safe from the predations of dangerous thinkers like Guy and MKH — and anyone on the right.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 27, 2021
While neither Benson nor Ham have addressed the controversy directly, both retweeted Shapiro’s thread. Benson teased a discussion of the matter on the Wednesday broadcast of his show.
“I’ll be addressing this on my show tomorrow,” Benson tweeted.
I’ll be addressing this on my show tomorrow https://t.co/fATU6v6lWf
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 27, 2021
Shapiro’s turn as guest writer sparked uproar from some on the political Left, who accused Politico of offering a platform to a proponent of racism.
“Ben Shapiro – with a history of racist, anti-Arab and Islamophobic views – gets awarded a platform on Politico. Whiteness wins again,” tweeted political activist Linda Sarsour.
CNN political analyst Sabrina Siddiqui agreed, asking Politico editors to review “all the racist things Ben Shapiro has said about Arabs and Muslims,” linking to an article by Shapiro headlined “POLITICO Playbook: The real reason most Republicans opposed impeachment.”
Shapiro dismissed the attacks as reinforcing his contention that “cancel culture” seeks to silence opposing political voices.
“People losing their s— over me writing @politico Playbook this morning are pretty much proving my point,” he tweeted in response to the fury. “So keep at it guys, you’re doing great!”
Politico defended its decision to have Shapiro guest author as part of the publication’s “secret sauce” of “mischief-making.”
“We have taken great care to assemble a roster of guest authors who are prominent thinkers and writers and represent a range of perspectives,” Politico said in a statement. “What sets Politico apart in this intense political and media moment is that we rise above partisanship and ideological warfare — even as many seek to drag us into it. It’s a core value of the publication that is unchangeable, and that above all protects our ability to do independent journalism.”
Representatives for Politico, CNN, and Townhall did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
