At the four-day Turning Point USA confab in Phoenix, Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson decided that the most pressing conservative priority wasn’t turning out voters or dismantling liberal policies. No, instead it was auditioning for Worst Houseguest on the Right. Shapiro took the mic and called out Carlson for interviewing fringe figures and spreading conspiracy theories. He called Carlson and others like him (Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly and Steve Bannon) “grifters” and “charlatans.” He warned that conservative movement is in serious danger because of people like them.

Shapiro told the audience, “We have an obligation to clarity and to honesty. This means that we actually have to be clear in the language that we use. We should not traffic in generality.”

Carlson responded by mocking Shapiro’s “deplatforming” posture. Carlson, for his part, has been annoying many in MAGA with his opposition to the country’s support for Israel and military actions against Iran. Even Trump posted on Truth Social, “Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!” Carlson also lectured Turning Point conference- goers for “attacking millions of Americans because they’re Muslim,” saying it was “disgusting.”

Maybe take these arguments behind closed doors, focus on shared priorities, and spend your energy taking on Democrats instead???!!

Ultimately, the “civil war” between the two wasn’t a debate about strategy – it was a verbal dodgeball game where they kept hitting their own team. Meanwhile, the Democrats? Probably sipping coffee and fundraising off the spectacle.

Here’s the GOP strategy in a nutshell: ignore the actual opposition and steer clear of anything that might actually energize the base next year. Instead of spending their time drawing sharp contrasts with the Left, too many MAGA voices seem far more interested in out-MAGA’ing each other – policing language, purity-testing beliefs, and lecturing allies instead of fighting Democrats.

If Republicans are serious about victory, maybe they should stop debating among themselves like it’s a fight over the last donut in the break room and refocus on beating Democrats.

All of it points to a bigger, still-unsettled question: who will lead the America First and MAGA movement when Donald Trump is no longer at the top of the ticket? If Trump isn’t the one driving the movement forward, who steps in next – and what does that future message look like?

At the conference, Vice President JD Vance appeared to offer at least part of the answer. In his closing address, Vance told the crowd, “I will fight alongside you and President Trump and every patriot in this room to defend the country that we so dearly love.”

And according to Erika Kirk, Carlie Kirk’s widow, the question of leadership is already settled. Kirk publicly endorsed Vance as the movement’s next standard-bearer, declaring, “We are going to get my husband’s friend, JD Vance, elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible.”