Vanderbilt Young Americans for Freedom hosted Ben Shapiro in Langford Auditorium on Nov. 13 to discuss the future of the United States after the 2024 election, followed by an audience Q&A session. The roughly 1,100-person audience consisted of students, employees of The Daily Wire and community members. 

In the lecture portion of the event, Shapiro discussed presidential election results, foreign policy and traditional gender roles. In the Q&A portion, students reported not being allowed to ask questions unless the question was “controversial.” Question topics ranged from religion to abortion to a moral standard for politicians.

Shapiro is an author, podcaster and co-founder of The Daily Wire, a conservative media company that produces videos and podcasts. This event was part of YAF’s “Things That Matter” lecture series. YAF also organized a speaker event with Michael Knowles — another conservative political commentator who works for The Daily Wire — last December.

Attendees were required to walk through metal detectors before entering the building due to a new policy from VUMC, which was also in effect when Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell visited Vanderbilt’s U.S. Elections class on Nov. 7. Additionally, several VUPD officers ran security and patrolled the auditorium during Shapiro’s talk.

Protest

On Nov. 12, Vanderbilt Lambda Association posted a statement on Instagram asking the Vanderbilt queer community to boycott the event. The statement, signed by the Lambda’s executive board, condemned “people and language” that encourage divisiveness and hate regarding transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals. The statement also encouraged students to attend an “alternative event” that took place concurrently with the Shapiro talk.

“In light of this and the current political climate in our state and country, we are again advocating for an official policy of non-engagement,” the statement reads. “Please do not put your safety and the safety of our community at risk. Do not give more fuel to their deadly hate; you can not win against slick talkers in suits who ignore reality and deny truth.”  

Two hours prior to Shapiro’s talk, Vanderbilt Student Government, Women in Government and Voices for Liberty hosted former American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen for a discussion of free speech and hate speech on campus. VSG Vice President Ellie Kearns, a senior and primary organizer of the event, stated in a message to The Hustler that the purpose of bringing Strossen to campus was to contextualize the Shapiro event and bring a different perspective from the one he may offer. 

“While I certainly don’t agree with Ben Shapiro’s rhetoric and I am deeply concerned with the impact that rhetoric has on our most marginalized community members, I do believe that counterspeech can be an effective tool to combat speech like [Shapiro’s],” Kearns said.

2024 presidential election

Junior Noah Jenkins, president of Vanderbilt YAF and Vanderbilt College Republicans, introduced Shapiro, saying the United States stands at the edge of a “new golden age” following last week’s election results. Jenkins said Shapiro “revolutionized” the conservative media landscape. In a message to The Hustler, Jenkins expressed appreciation for Shapiro’s appearance and for the amount of attendees.

“We are proud of our fellow students for making Vanderbilt an exemplar of what productive dialogue on American campuses ought to look like in this divisive time [by] respectfully asking Mr. Shapiro their difficult questions and listening carefully to his responses,” Jenkins said. “We hope Mr. Shapiro’s presence inspires more public intellectuals to visit Vanderbilt and look forward to seeing everyone back at our future events.”

After receiving a standing ovation upon his entrance, Shapiro echoed Jenkins’ sentiments, expressing appreciation for the re-election of former President Donald Trump and sharing his belief that civilizations are built on “liberty, strength and virtue.”

“It’s odd that the person who it takes to make all that happen is a real estate mogul with odd hair and an orange color. But that’s what it is, and I don’t think that the election was so much about President Trump — who obviously is a singular figure in American history — as much as it was about the American people who were just done,” Shapiro said. “We were done with the age of stagnation. We were done with the age of moral confusion. We were done with an age that suggested that weakness was a substitute for strength, that foolishness was a substitute for virtue or that regulation was a substitute for liberty.”

Shapiro discussed his time in Texas aiding Ted Cruz’s campaign, saying he saw hope among constituents to build individual wealth. He discussed his belief that economic growth is a result of “property rights, liberty and innovation” and that any person can create their own economic success.

“If you put your mind to it — if you work hard and you make smart decisions — and if you get a little bit lucky [and] are willing to take risks, you can make so much money,” Shapiro said. “You can be so prosperous, so lucky [and] so successful in this country, and that is still true. Anyone, right or left, who tells you differently — that you can’t get ahead in the United States of America — is lying to you for political gain.”

Shapiro also praised billionaire and CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk, calling him “unbelievable.” Musk worked with Trump throughout his campaign, and he has recently been announced as Trump’s choice to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency. Shapiro echoed a statement made by Trump in his election victory speech, expressing a need to “protect our geniuses.”

“Whenever you speak with Elon, it’s sort of like watching an alien coming to analyze the human species,” Shapiro said. “You can see him breaking you apart, down into your constituent components, and trying to figure out why you work so weird, but [his] weird brain creates things like giant 22-story rockets that can be captured by enormous chopsticks from the air.”

Foreign policy

Shapiro then transitioned into a discussion of American foreign policy, saying he believes the U.S. holds a “wonderful” amount of strength and power.

“The world only has freedom and prosperity because of the United States of America. It is the threat or the use of military force by the United States of America that keeps the world free, safe and prosperous,” Shapiro said. “There is no one else. If the U.S. disappeared tomorrow, the world would decay into darkness almost overnight.”

Shapiro then expressed appreciation for Trump’s foreign policy during his first term in office, calling his platform the best that he has seen of any president during his lifetime. He said he believes President Joe Biden “set all of it on fire” once he took office. Shapiro also quoted Trump’s choice for his Secretary of State, Fox News host Pete Hegseth, saying he believes war should be “short and brutal.”

“The credible threat of the use of force is the basis for all solid foreign policy,” Shapiro said. “It turns out the best dissuader to the use of military force by your enemies is their knowledge that they will get absolutely wrecked if they try it.”

Traditional societal roles

Shapiro went on to express his belief in the importance of maintaining traditional gender roles.

“A virtuous civilization raises its daughters to be wives and mothers and raises its sons to be fathers and husbands,” Shapiro said. “This should not be controversial. If it is controversial, it’s because you’re doing it wrong. The most important thing in life to me is not what I do for a living — it’s what I do for my family.”

Shapiro said Western civilization has been “cut off” from these values he views as essential, saying he believes Americans must reconnect with these values through their churches. He ended his lecture by discussing his belief that the Trump-Vance administration would bring a rise in virtue back to the nation.

“It’s time for something new. I can feel it. I think a lot of people can feel it. I think it’s [clear] by the way the election went last week,” Shapiro said. “I only hope that it’s beginning because if it is, the golden age is upon us, and we’re all going to get to enjoy it together.”

Q&A

After his lecture, Shapiro engaged in a Q&A session with the audience. Students stood in a line at the back of the auditorium and were brought forward to ask questions. The first question asked for Shapiro’s thoughts on how the U.S. could combat its declining national birth rate, to which Shapiro responded that he believes religion plays an important role.

“It turns out the only people who apparently had [a] real reason to have kids were people who felt a religious obligation,” Shapiro said. “I do not think you’re going to restore birth rates unless you have [a religious reason to].” 

Per a study by the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, women who reported the importance of religion in their lives had higher fertility and higher intended fertility than those who did not prioritize religion.

Another student asked whether moral beliefs should take precedence over issues that may not align with such values, even if the issues may be beneficial to the broader population. The student cited arguments that suggest legalizing abortion can be good for the economy through crime reduction, but Shapiro rejected the idea completely.

“I think the single worst argument for abortion is the idea that it creates economic efficiency because that’s also true about killing everyone above the age of 85, probably,” Shapiro said. “You can do all sorts of tremendously evil things that would help the economy, which is why helping the economy is not the number one scanner for virtue.”

In response to a question from sophomore Megan Curtis about balancing a commitment to virtue with his public platform denouncing rights for transgender individuals, Shapiro expressed his belief that “reality always wins.” Curtis is a Staff Writer for The Hustler.

“You can think whatever you want to think about yourself. You can’t be anything you want to be,” Shapiro said. “You can’t be the pope, you can’t be Jesus and you can’t be a member of the opposite sex. The facts of life are the facts of life, and declaring that everyone else should simply go along with what is, in fact, a counterfactual statement — a delusion — that is a violation of everybody else’s rights.”

Curtis followed up by asking if Shapiro believed the government should be able to prohibit a transgender individual from expressing their identity. Shapiro interrupted Curtis, saying he was not trying to “dictate” anyone’s way of life.

“I’m literally not forcing you to do anything. I’m telling you to leave me alone,” Shapiro said.

Ivy Thornborough, a sophomore, said the event was “nothing too surprising” and expressed appreciation for Curtis’ question.

“I thought Megan did well given the circumstances — it’s hard to get the word in and have an actual discussion when Shapiro’s reputation relies on ‘gotcha’ moments,” Thornborough said in a message to The Hustler. “Megan wasn’t able to speak clearly at the end because the mic was moved away [by the moderator] mid-sentence, and Shapiro was able to deliver a ‘killer’ line without making any well-rounded arguments.”

Another student asked about Shapiro’s belief on whether ethics could exist without religion, to which Shapiro responded that he sees organized religion as the only way to instill values on a large scale.

“Ethics can exist independent of religion, although I think it lacks a logical basis in the sense that at least religion says a thing is right [or wrong], because there is a body that created ethics that you owe an allegiance to,” Shapiro said.

One other student asked Shapiro how he balanced virtues and family religious morals with President-elect Trump, given that the president-elect has had three wives and allegedly had affairs while married to them. Shapiro responded that he did not believe politicians should be held to a higher standard for their morals so long as they performed the duties of their role.

“Donald Trump is a plumber. I don’t really care about his personal life because he’s fixing the toilet,” Shapiro said. “So as long as the toilet gets fixed — the toilet that Joe Biden clogged — I don’t really care about his personal life.”

Sophomore Adele Shen shared her experience waiting in line to ask Shapiro a question, saying she felt she had to come up with a question the moderators would like.

“They [event staff] were only letting people with ‘controversial’ questions into the line so I had to fabricate questions five times until I landed on ‘What is a woman?’” Shen said.

Audience reactions

Junior Spencer Eyen acknowledged he disagreed with Shapiro politically but appreciated the opportunity to hear from someone with differing opinions.

“I really like that Vanderbilt is advocating for seeing both sides of the [political] spectrum. As somebody who isn’t necessarily a Republican, I still think that it’s interesting to see both sides of the aisle, and I’d love more events like this,” Eyen said. “I do wish some of the questions, which we can’t control, would have been a little bit tougher, but overall, [it was] a very interesting event.”

Sophomore Harlan Bandy disagreed with Shapiro’s event format but said the entire process was entertaining to watch via live stream.

“I think that Ben Shapiro’s general platform of proving arguments against people who are completely unprepared to face him is odious, but watching my friends get owned was hilarious,” Bandy said.