Right-wing provocateur Ben Shapiro thought a speech at the March for Life was the right time to address a philosophical question about Hitler.
Hours later, multiple advertisers announced they had dropped Shapiro’s podcast after his bizarre comments were viewed millions of times.
Shapiro explained during his speech before the pro-life crowd on Friday why anti-abortion advocates wouldn’t have killed the genocidal German leader when he was a baby.
“The truth is that no pro-life person on earth would kill baby Hitler,” Shapiro said. “Because baby Hitler wasn’t Hitler — Adult Hitler was Hitler. Baby Hitler was a baby.”
Ben Shapiro at March for Life: "The truth is no pro-life person would kill baby Hitler. Baby Hitler was a baby." pic.twitter.com/PPgQcbWSrq
— jordan (@JordanUhl) January 18, 2019
Toothbrush maker Quip — which Shapiro promoted during Friday’s speech — announced it was done sponsoring him later that day, due to “one of our ads being read in a venue we did not endorse.”
The company Calm, which promotes relaxation techniques and meditation products, tweeted Friday that it too was done sponsoring Shapiro’s show.
We do not align with this message. We’re pulling our sponsorship.
— Calm (@calm) January 19, 2019
Shapiro reacted to criticism of his “baby Hitler” comments by claiming the video, which garnered millions of views on Friday, was taken out of context.
In re: baby Hitler – thanks to @JordanUhl for cutting 21 seconds completely out of context. The argument was simple: pro-choicers sometimes argue that abortion lowers crime rates. It is immoral to kill children because of what they might become in the future.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 18, 2019
Hence the baby Hitler reference. Now, I’m sorry that some people are wildly intellectually dishonest or idiotic and pretend not to understand the argument. But I’m glad they were born all the same!
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 18, 2019
Ryan Saavedra, who works for the Daily Wire — a conservative website founded and run by Shapiro — claimed the “full context” of his boss’ remarks revealed that “people are simply lying about it.”
Here is the full context of Ben Shapiro's "baby Hitler" remarks.
People are simply lying about it. pic.twitter.com/pKreAEISOX
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 18, 2019
However, that footage shows Shapiro somehow jumped from talking about whether abortion lowers crime rates to the merits of murdering baby Hitler, so it’s not entirely clear how the “full context” is supposed to provide vindication.
Shapiro is the latest conservative talking head to face an erosion of corporate support. Fox News’ Tucker Carlson lost dozens of advertisers after claiming that immigrants make America “dirtier” last month.
Fox News’ Laura Ingraham also lost dozens of sponsors after she mocked a 17-year-old survivor of a school shooting last year. Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly lost almost all of his advertisers before the conservative network fired him in 2017 following revelations of multiple sexual harassment claims and settlements.
Shapiro — “the cool kid’s philosopher,” according to the New York Times — faced criticism in November for claiming “left-wing anti-Semitism” is a more dangerous threat than violent white supremacists.