Ben Shapiro Develops Selective Amnesia

As Splinter’s resident amateur physician, it’s my unfortunate duty to report that New York Times-dubbed “cool kids philosopher” Ben Shapiro appears to have come down with an acute case of amnesia.

On a new episode of his eponymous Ben Shapiro Show, Shapiro—a man who spends his days lecturing poor people for being poor, freaking out over Marvel superheroes, and running away from interviews like a scared rabbit—claimed that a grand total of zero Republicans questioned whether President Obama had the legal right to be president.

“I’m not aware of a single major Republican figure who said that Barack Obama was not the legitimate president of the United States,” Shapiro claimed on his podcast, which was first highlighted Monday by Media Matters researcher Jason Campbell.

“Democrats have claimed that George W. Bush was illegitimate,” Shapiro continued. “They have claimed that Donald Trump was illegitimate.”

For those also suffering from memory loss, President Donald Trump spent years pushing the racist birther lie that Obama was born in Kenya and therefore couldn’t legally be president. Trump’s birther effort was joined in various degrees by current House member Mark Meadows, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, former Senate candidate Roy Moore, and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich—none of whom Shapiro apparently counts as “major Republican figures.”

In fact, Shaprio’s incurable condition seemingly extends to himself; in 2016, Ben wrote that “Trump handled this idiotic [birther] issue – an issue he raised and prolonged – the best way he could have.”