Ben Shapiro Hires 19-Year-Old Mat Nuclear to Battle Nick Fuentes at Daily Wire
Updated
Updated · The Bulwark · Jun 29
Ben Shapiro Hires 19-Year-Old Mat Nuclear to Battle Nick Fuentes at Daily Wire
1 articles · Updated · The Bulwark · Jun 29
Summary
Two weeks after announcing Mat Nuclear, 19, as a new Daily Wire debate host, Ben Shapiro cast him as a nightly livestreamer meant to "take on all comers."
Shapiro said Nuclear's main assignment was to confront white nationalist Nick Fuentes, extending a long-running ideological feud over Israel and the right's direction.
The hire also reflects Daily Wire's business and audience pressures after overspending and the departures of Brett Cooper and Candace Owens, both of whom later turned on Shapiro.
Gen Z outreach appears central to the move: Nuclear is a young internet debater and outspoken defender of AIPAC, traits Shapiro has struggled to pair with a conservative audience increasingly critical of Israel.