Prominent conservative commentator Ben Shapiro conceded to being thoroughly owned by Andrew Neil in a resurfaced interview, acknowledging that their brief chat took an unexpected turn after he accused the veteran broadcaster of being a “lefty” before abruptly ending the interview.
Shapiro exited the discussion, alleging a perceived bias towards the left on the part of the BBC presenter. The clash unfolded during an interview on Politics Live, where Neil, who presently chairs the organization overseeing the right-wing magazine The Spectator, engaged Shapiro on topics such as abortion laws and his previously contentious remarks.
He told him: “You purport to be an objective journalist. The BBC purports to be a down-the-middle network.
“It obviously is not, it never has been, and you as a journalist are proceeding to call one side of the political aisle ignorant, barbaric and sending us back to the dark ages.
“Why don’t you just say that you are on the left? Is that so hard for you? Seriously, it’s a serious question.”
Neil responded by chuckling and saying: “Mr Shapiro, if you only knew how ridiculous that statement is you wouldn’t have said it.”
You can watch the exchange below:
The segment went viral on social media, prompting Shapiro to say he had not been prepared and to concede defeat to Neil, who often takes oppositional positions with his guests.
He tweeted: “@afneil DESTROYS Ben Shapiro! So that’s what that feels like 😉 Broke my own rule, and wasn’t properly prepared. I’ve addressed every single issue he raised before; see below. Still, it’s Neil 1, Shapiro 0.”
He earlier apologised on social media to Neil, saying he had “misinterpreted his antagonism as political leftism”.
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