Ben Shapiro tells CPAC the 'era of political correctness is over'

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Ben Shapiro: The era of political correctness is over

Author and radio talk show host tells CPAC attendees the 'big secret' to conservatives' success.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro on Thursday told activists that the “era of political correctness is over” in the age of Donald Trump as president, while encouraging conservatives to fight liberalism with the “truth.”

“The era of political correctness is over,” Shapiro said at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference outside Washington. “Political correctness is dying a slow, painful, bloody, agonizing death. And all I can say is hell, yeah.”

Like other speakers here, Shapiro addressed the recent school shooting in Florida, and accused the media of unfairly treating conservative views on guns.

He asked the audience to raise their hands if they care about the people murdered in Parkland, Fla. He also asked them to raise their hands if they believe in Second Amendment rights.

“See, both things can go together, media,” Shapiro said.

At one point during his speech, Shapiro celebrated Trump’s defeat of Democrat Hillary Clinton in the presidential race and the crowd began chanting “lock her up, lock her up.”

Shapiro went on to encourage the young conservatives in the audience to stay truthful when debating liberals.

“There’s nothing wrong with poking fun at the left,” he said. “Just make sure that what you say can be backed up with evidence.”

Shapiro added: “We need to show that they are liars and we are the truth tellers. And that means telling the truth about everything. It means that when our own side fails, we have to call it out.”

Earlier in the day, Vice President Mike Pence and NRA leader Wayne LaPierre delivered speeches to the activists. CPAC, known for attracting a large number of college students, also held a panel on liberal bias on college campuses titled “Kim Jong Un-iversity: How college campuses are turning into reeducation camps.”

Marcus Fotenos of the group Turning Point USA said of university professors: “What’s really sad is they don’t value reason or truth….how do we operate in an environment where they don’t value reason?”

Grant Strobl of Young America’s Foundation told the story of how, at the University of Michigan, he requested to be called “His Majesty” after the school allowed students to change their personal pronouns to whatever they’d like.

“This policy is insane,” he said.

President Trump and other members of his administration are scheduled to address CPAC on Friday.