The Conservative Civil War Went Nuclear on Stage

What was supposed to be a showcase of conservative unity at TPUSA instead turned into a full-blown right-wing civil war, with faction after faction lobbing bombs at each other in public. By the end of the event, it was clear: far more energy was spent attacking fellow conservatives than confronting the left.

This wasn’t a disagreement. It was an implosion.

Ben Shapiro Fires First — and Hits Megyn Kelly

The chaos kicked off when Ben Shapiro used his TPUSA speech to take not-so-subtle shots at several figures on the right, including Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, and—unexpectedly—Megyn Kelly.

Kelly, who spoke after Shapiro, was asked directly about his remarks. Her response was cold and cutting. She accused Shapiro of acting like a gatekeeper, deciding “who must say what to whom and when,” and made it clear she didn’t appreciate being publicly labeled a coward by someone she considered a friend.

What made it sting more was the history. Kelly pointed out that she had supported Shapiro early in his career, promoted him heavily, and even recently invited him on tour—giving him a generous introduction at a time when, according to her, his audience growth is slowing.

They had debated openly on stage before, hugged afterward, and even exchanged friendly texts days later. Then Shapiro turned around and attacked her publicly at TPUSA.

“That’s not friendship,” Kelly said. And she wasn’t wrong.

Facts, Hypocrisy, and the Limits of “Gatekeeping”

To be fair, Shapiro’s argument had a surface-level logic. He criticized figures who praise Hitler, spread false conspiracy theories, or push factually incorrect claims—including bizarre theories about who killed Charlie Kirk involving imaginary Egyptian planes.

From his perspective, condemning those things seems reasonable.

The irony, however, is that Shapiro himself has often shown flexibility with “facts” when it suits his political objectives. That contradiction undercuts his moral authority—and it’s exactly where the backlash begins.

Shapiro Draws a Line — and Exposes the Movement’s Fault Lines

Shapiro then went directly after Nick Fuentes, delivering a fiery speech laying out who does not belong in the conservative movement:

Anyone who praises Hitler or Stalin

Anyone who promotes racial hatred

Anyone who supports racial quotas

Anyone who uses ethnic slurs

Anyone who endorses extremist ideologies

The crowd applauded—but critics quickly noticed something missing.

Shapiro named nearly every protected group… except Muslims.

That omission wasn’t accidental. In conservative politics, hostility toward Muslims has often been normalized. When questioned later, Shapiro claimed he “meant Muslims too,” but the damage was done. If inclusion truly mattered, critics argued, he would have said it the first time.

The uncomfortable truth: the conservative movement has spent years fueling scapegoating—against immigrants, LGBTQ people, Black Americans, and others. Now that the same logic is being turned inward toward Jews and Indians, leaders like Shapiro are suddenly alarmed.

The monster is eating its creators.

Fuentes Fires Back — and the War Escalates

Nick Fuentes wasted no time responding, threatening to campaign against Shapiro’s allies in Ohio. His supporters flooded social media with openly racist, anti-Indian slurs—confirming exactly the problem Shapiro claimed to oppose.

This is the trap of overt white nationalism: it excites a loud online fringe but destroys any real chance of winning elections. Most Americans who hold racist views still want plausible deniability. Fuentes’ crowd doesn’t bother pretending.

Steve Bannon Enters — and It Gets Even Uglier

As if that wasn’t enough, Steve Bannon took the stage and turned his fire on Shapiro, declaring him “the farthest thing from MAGA.”

That claim collapsed almost instantly. Shapiro-aligned figures have close access to Trump, support his policies, and have benefited directly from the MAGA ecosystem. Trump himself bombed Iran, backed Israeli territorial expansion, and governed squarely within the framework Bannon now pretends to oppose.

The audience’s reaction to Bannon was muted—not outrage, not applause, just quiet observation. They weren’t cheering. They were watching the civil war play out, waiting to see who survives.

The Epstein Shadow Looms Large

One of the sharpest counterpunches came when Shapiro reminded everyone of Bannon’s documented proximity to Jeffrey Epstein, accusing him of acting as a PR fixer trying to rehabilitate Epstein’s image.

Why, critics asked, should anyone trust moral lectures from someone who never fully accounted for that relationship?

Democrats largely disavowed Bill Clinton over Epstein ties. Conservatives, by contrast, keep elevating figures who refuse to answer uncomfortable questions. That double standard hung heavy over the entire event.

The Big Picture: A Movement Eating Itself

TPUSA didn’t expose strength. It exposed fragmentation.

Populists versus donors.
Gatekeepers versus extremists.
Performative outrage versus raw bigotry.

Everyone claims to be the “real” movement. No one agrees on what that means.

Meanwhile, the right tears itself apart in public, while the left—at least at the grassroots level—remains focused, organized, and unified around policy goals like healthcare, education, wages, and ending endless wars.

The conservative coalition isn’t just divided. It’s imploding.

And judging by the fury, the threats, and the sheer amount of infighting on display, this wasn’t the climax.

It was only the beginning.