Ben Shapiro berated the mainstream media for its divisive political rhetoric that he said may have led to someone taking their accusations that former President Donald Trump is evil seriously.

“The actual story here is an entire political party — an entire political side of the aisle — geared around the idea that Donald Trump is a grave existential threat to democracy and then someone took that seriously, presumably, and tried to shoot the former president of the United States,” Shapiro said during a special episode of the Ben Shapiro show on Sunday.

Shapiro called the attempted assassination “shocking but not surprising” and “one of the most predictable things to happen in American public life in my lifetime.”

“His political opponents have defined him as ‘literally Hitler’ and when you keep saying your political opposition is ‘literally Hitler who is going to take America into a new dark age.’ When you say that over and over and over again, you are turning up the temperature,” Shapiro said.

.@benshapiro: “The attempted assassination is one of the most predictable things to happen in American public life in my lifetime. It is simultaneously one of the most shocking and one of the most predictable…

His political opponents have defined him as literally Hitler…… pic.twitter.com/PHTuF6Chqy

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) July 14, 2024

Shapiro, who doesn’t typically record a show on Sundays, did a special show to voice his thoughts on the assassination attempt of Donald Trump.

Shapiro pointed to other attempted assassinations including the 2017 Congressional Baseball shooting where Majority Leader Steve Scalise was shot and the 2022 plot against Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s life.

“The only person who is responsible for the actual shooting is the shooter,” he said. “When you keep saying that ‘America will be literally destroyed, this will be the last election, Donald Trump is the worst person who has ever lived and he must be stopped, someone is going to take that seriously and think to themselves’ ‘shouldn’t I do something to stop Hitler.”

Shapiro went after the media for its response to the attack, including CNN’s Jamie Gangel who attacked Trump after he stood up with blood on his face and pumped his fist while shouting “fight, fight, fight.”

“And this is the kind of dangerous rhetoric that could lead to violence,” Shapiro said. “You pathetic, sad sack a** clowns. Are you kidding me? Are you ‘effing kidding me? He’s the one who got shot. One of his supporters was murdered. He gets up and says ‘fight,’ on the basis of just almost getting murdered and your complaint is that his rhetoric is too heated? 

Shapiro also criticized CBS News’s Margaret Brennan for lecturing Scalise about potential retaliatory Republican violence following the attempt on Trump’s life.

“Somebody almost killed the former president of the United States and Margaret Brennan’s first move is to suggest that this might inspire Republican violence,” Shapiro said. “It seems to me the problem is not Republican violence. It seems to me the problem is someone trying to shoot the former president of the United States and leading presidential contender.”

Shapiro concluded his show by encouraging his viewers to give generously to the GoFundMe for the family of Corey Comperatore, the man behind Trump who was killed.

Watch the full Ben Shapiro Show episode below.