America First vs. Israel First: Young Conservative Accuses Shapiro of Ignoring American Blood, Internet Explodes

In the heart of Phoenix, amidst the glitz and glamour of Turning Point USA's AmFest, a seismic shift rocked the conservative stage.

Young "America First" voices, weary of endless foreign entanglements, rose in defiance, challenging the old guard's allegiance to a foreign state over American blood.

Nicky Rudd, a young America First advocate, confronted Ben Shapiro, the Jewish CEO of Daily Wire, over the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty.

"You cited during your speech truth as the most important tenet of American conservatism. Why, therefore, did you call irrelevant the Israeli attack in 1967 on the USS Liberty with left dozens of American servicemen dead and hundreds wounded?" Rudd asked.

Shapiro shot back, arguing the 1967 USS Liberty incident is irrelevant to modern U.S.-Israel relations, comparing it to using World War II or 1776 events to define current ties with Britain or Germany.

"So what I actually said is that if we're looking at modern Israeli-American relations we're looking at multiple Israeli reports and all available evidence and using that attack in order to undermine today's relations between Israel and America that's irrelevant. As relevant as it would be to cite a piece of evidence from World War II or from 1776 to define America's relations with, for example, Great Britain or Germany today. That does not mean the attack wasn't horrible for the Americans involved."

WATCH:

"The Israeli government paid reparations to people who were killed," he continued. "If you look at what happened on USS Liberty, it was clearly a mistaken and tragic attack. The people who frequently cite the USS Liberty, however, are not talking about the specifics of the USS Liberty. I suspect that the vast majority of people who bring this up are doing so in order to suggest that Israel deliberately attacked an American ship because Israel deliberately wants to harm America"

Rudd countered, "We should question any foreign country's relationship with our government.

Shapiro questioned Rudd's motivation, noting, "I'm wondering what your motivation is in bringing up a six-decade-old attack as though it's the number one issue in assessing the relationship between Israel and the United States today."

Rudd replied, "Many problems persist to this day but it's interesting that you say 'six-decade incident' when there are so many people in this audience who were alive for that attack as if this is something that's irrelevant.

The USS Liberty IncidentOn June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israeli forces attacked the USS Liberty, a U.S. Navy technical research ship, killing 34 American servicemen and wounding 171.

Israel claimed the attack was a mistake, attributing it to misidentification.

The U.S. and Israel jointly stated it was an error, though some, including survivors and historians, dispute this, suggesting intentionality due to the ship's intelligence-gathering role.

The exchange highlights the growing rift within conservatism over foreign policy priorities.

Shapiro, a prominent Never Trump figure who resigned from Breitbart in 2016 over a false assault allegation against Corey Lewandowski, has long defended strong U.S.-Israel ties.

The American right stands at a crossroads, a civil war brewing between the old and new guards.

At TPUSA's AmFest, the America First crowd, tired of foreign priorities over American lives, made their stand. In Charlie Kirk's spirit, debate flourished, but the fault lines deepened, questioning whether the conservative movement will prioritize America or continue its entanglements abroad. The battle for the future is here, and the young are not backing down.