Lionel Nation - Why Does Nick Fuentes Terrify Ben Shapiro?

Nov. 21, 2025 - Lionel Nation

13:19

Why Does Nick Fuentes Terrify Ben Shapiro?

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	That's right.
	This is my ultimate, my umpteenth Nick Fuentes video.
	I don't get it.
	I don't get it.
	What is he?
	Why don't people understand what he's doing?
	Why does he freak people out?
	He's loving this.
	What is he?
	12 years old?
	And he's driving the world crazy.
	America First just sent a jolt of electricity through the political landscape.
	Nick Fuentes, the Nick Fuentes, the lightning rod commentator, with a rising following, announced the relaunch of his America First Foundation.
	And whether you like him, whether you hate him, whether you watch him, whether you're amused, whether you've never heard of him, it doesn't matter.
	One fact is undeniable.
	Something is brewing.
	Something is happening.
	Something is going on here beyond personality-driven politics.
	The battle lines are being drawn between those who believe America should come first and those who quietly place other nations at the front of the line.
	And that tension has finally gone public with names attached.
	Nick Fuentes framed the relaunch as a step toward institution building.
	In his words, the movement cannot rely on one personality.
	He wants structure and he wants resource films and educational material and other guidance.
	His pitch is simple.
	The conservative future, the conservative future, the way he sees it must not depend on celebrity or viral moments, but on a permanent machine capable of guiding American voters.
	You got a problem with that?
	You got a problem with that?
	I don't.
	At least not with the concept.
	You may still not like him, but that's a different story.
	That message rattled a particular set of voices within the so-called conservative establishment.
	Not because it was radical, not because it threatened to organize, but because it was different.
	And it threatened to invigorate what many believed was unorganized outrage.
	Either way, it works.
	And instead of trying to beat him, oh, no, no, no, or join him, I should say, they want to destroy him.
	Now think about this.
	The foundation intends to identify and evaluate every candidate running in 2026.
	It will not be vague.
	It will not hide behind slogans.
	It will provide recommendations and voter guidance, which you can accept or avoid or reject, which is up to you.
	But that alone places it in direct confrontation with high-profile gatekeepers who prefer to define conservatism as a brand rather than a movement with teeth.
	And Nick Fuentes also promised visual mappings of Israel's lobbying structure and its political influence across committees and media hubs and think tanks.
	Do you have a problem with that?
	Counter it.
	Debate it.
	Dispute it.
	Dilute it.
	And throw into the mix the ultimate control, the ultimate effect that big tech has, but that's for a different issue.
	The language was blunt.
	Follow the money.
	See the networks.
	Let voters observe the web of influence with their own eyes.
	Do you got a problem with that?
	Oh, that was enough to trigger the first shot from Ben Shapiro.
	He went on air and dismissed the foundation as an empty vessel with dangerous ideas with no real conservative footing.
	And he accused the project of isolationism and a rejection of what he calls actual form of important and critical Americanism.
	His argument, his argument was that America First should simply mean that Americans support the Declaration of Independence and constitutional ideas.
	Okay.
	Nick Fuentes, he claims, has his own definition based on heritage and nationalism.
	And the fact that Shapiro responded so quickly tells its own story.
	Some see it as ideological defense, whatever, but others see it as instinctive panic.
	A deeper current, a deeper current has been building for many years.
	You see, many everyday conservatives have grown tired of funding foreign wars, sending aid across the globe, and playing world police while American cities collapse, while our infrastructure basically evaporates into nothing.
	Nick Fuentes tapped that frustration directly.
	And he said that voters want to know whom to support when their money and their borders and their speech are under attack.
	They want to know all this.
	Now, establishment figures, establishment figures tend to provide moral lectures, but very few actual instructions.
	That vacuum opens space for a foundation that promises, frankly, practical guidance in a complicated election cycle.
	Listen, the real question is not whether one agrees with Nick Fuentes.
	For God's sakes, that's not it.
	The question is why so few conservative institutions are tracking candidates, evaluating legislation, or exposing influence networks.
	See, many self-appointed, I guess, again, I think we're using the word conservative too much, but I'll say it.
	Many self-appointed conservative leaders demand loyalty, but rarely offer clarity on where the movement should actually go.
	A young audience that grew up watching endless bipartisan failures is demanding action now and not theory.
	And Nick Fuentes is banking on that desire.
	And if you don't like what he has to say, beat him at it.
	Join him.
	Have a counter argument.
	When Ben Shapiro dismissed the word America First as semantically overloaded, many sensed a contradiction.
	He argued that every American should believe America comes first.
	Yet he also warned against a movement built on heritage, rooted nationalism, or resistance to global commitments.
	Ha!
	That created a strange gap.
	If America First means simply referencing the Constitution without border accountability or fiscal sovereignty, then the phrase loses power.
	It's meaningless.
	And Fuentes is working to make it concrete and measurable.
	You see, that alone should shift voter behavior.
	The ideological split reveals a crisis inside conservative politics.
	Listen carefully.
	On one side stands institutional voices that define conservatism as a collection of values without fixed policies.
	On the other side emerge figures who want metrics and maps and candidate analyses.
	The relaunch of America First Foundation might be seen as a challenge to conservative credentialing itself.
	It's a statement, a statement that the era of symbolic slogans is ending.
	And the public now wants receipts, policy commitments, and declared loyalties.
	Look, Ben Shapiro is a very important figure in our national conversation.
	And his forceful reaction shows how delicate the balance has become.
	He is not just critiquing a young influencer.
	He's warning that a new brand of conservatism might seize the ground that in essence is beneath him and the entire organization.
	When he said this is not what America First means, many listeners likely ask, who gets to decide that?
	Institutions do not like competition, especially when it arrives in the form of energy, youth, and internet reach.
	Look, those who profit from Israel, those from profit from, I guess maybe an Israel First policy structure, will resist any comprehensive mapping of influence.
	And remember, this is not anti-Semitic.
	This is not about Israel's and the Middle East.
	This is about reality.
	And I reject flat out anybody who says, I can't talk about this.
	I can't discuss this.
	I've been bombarded and waylaid my entire life with conspiracy theory.
	And now you're trying to throw the anti-Semitic trope, and all I'm doing is asking a question.
	And if you're listening carefully, what I've been saying, specifically how that particular trope and meme and intellectual vector and foci have changed drastically with the election of Zorhan Mamdani, you're not paying attention, Mamdani.
	You're not paying attention to me.
	Look, whether one sees this mapping as political exposure or honest transparency depends entirely on perspective.
	I understand that.
	Identifying influence is not a crime.
	That's how journalism works.
	Yet critics will always accuse the mapper of bigotry, regardless of the facts.
	That pattern has been used for decades to keep people quiet and silent.
	Nobody had a problem with saying that there was a Second Amendment lobby.
	Nobody bothers suggesting that maybe there's an environmental industry or lobby as well.
	I mean, you know, climate changers and women's lobby.
	Everybody's got a lobby, but you can't mention certain aspects and certain determinations or certain facets of Middle East ideology.
	That's ridiculous.
	Nick Fuentes appears willing to cross this line and accept the heat.
	He loves the heat.
	That's why I've been telling you: if you want to get rid of Fuentes, ignore him.
	His wager, his bet, is that voters now want clarity more than they fear labels.
	And the more you tell young voters not to listen to him, the more they want to listen to him.
	Conservatism is heading for a movement of reckoning.
	If the American First Foundation gains traction, it will compete directly with established media voices and donor networks and think tank leadership.
	That could force a realignment, a huge realignment to use AI terms.
	If it fizzles, then the status quo returns and the movement remains driven by celebrity and tribal loyalty.
	Look, the midterms will not only test candidates, they will test narratives.
	One thing is certain, my dear friend: the old guard doesn't want independent infrastructure that bypasses their influence.
	That is the quiet truth.
	Legacy media voices shape conversation, I should say, through, I guess we would call it maybe accepted terminology or phraseology or an argo or argue that makes sense.
	Nick Fuentes, like him or not, is poking at the limits of that structure.
	He's inviting voters to see policy through loyalty markers, not brand slogans.
	In politics, loyalty is everything.
	Not loyalty to one figure, but loyalty to the national interest.
	Remember that.
	The battle, my friend, for America First may come down to who defines the term best or better.
	It's an abstract value with patriotic flair.
	Or maybe it's a concrete platform with real consequences for spending and immigration, foreign policy, and lobbying, transparency, etc.
	Nothing is more threatening.
	Nothing is more threatening to establish power than plain language that can be measured and judged.
	That is what Nick Fuentes is offering.
	And that is why you should be paying attention.
	At least know what he's doing.
	You don't have to accept him.
	Not everything he says.
	He's very coarse, very crude.
	He's got a long way to go.
	But don't discount him.
	Pay attention to him.
	That's like saying years ago, ah, the Ramones are crap.
	Ah, the Beatles.
	This will never last.
	Really?
	Oh, hip-hop, this rap.
	Greg Alban said that rap is short for crap.
	Oh yeah?
	Oh yeah?
	Pay attention.
	Pay attention.
	Now the next election cycle is not just, it's not just about revealing who wins.
	It will expose who owns conservatism.
	And the question is whether American voters want a slogan or a blueprint.
	The answer could redefine the moment and the movement for a generation.
	Now let me tell you something right now.
	Ignore Nick Fuentes at your peril.
	You don't have to embrace him.
	Know what he's saying.
	Know what Ben Shapiro is saying.
	Know what Laura Loomer is saying.
	Know what Candice Owens.
	Know what Trump is saying in Mike Pence.
	Know what everybody is saying.
	Take it all in.
	Build your own form of intellectual metadata.
	You understand?
	Remember, you and I are on the same side.
	I want America first.
	I want America secure.
	I want not conservatism, not liberalism.
	I want Americanism.
	Because the one thing that I abide by is the Constitution.
	I know that sounds corny, but that's it.
	Plain and simple.
	What do you think, my friend?
	Please like this video.
	Please subscribe to it.
	Make sure you are put on the list so you're notified of live streams and new videos.
	And I'm going to be asking some questions immediately after this.
	Please, please, please answer them in your very best, Sunday best, so to speak.
	Thank you, my friend.

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