Ben Shapiro, founder and editor emeritus of The Daily Wire, announced Friday morning his company will “use every method and resource at our disposal to defy the president’s unconstitutional order.”
The announcement from the conservative author and business owner came one day after President Joe Biden delivered a speech declaring his administration is mandating all private sector employers with more than 100 staffers require their workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or test for the virus every week — a far-reaching order many argue is outside the purview of the president’s powers.
“Of course not,” Shapiro said after Fox News’ Steve Doocy asked if The Daily Wire will comply with Biden’s latest edict. “We’re going to use every method and resource at our disposal to defy the president’s unconstitutional order, and this is coming from somebody who is very pro-vaccine. I was vaccinated as soon as possible and I’ve encouraged everybody to get the vaccine — pretty much everybody to get the vaccine.”
“[Biden] came into office saying, ‘I’m not gonna shut down the economy, I’m not gonna shut down the country, I’m going to shut down the virus,’” he continued. “He failed to shut down the virus, so now he’s going to shut down the country, apparently.”
The president said those who don’t comply with his vaccine mandate will face $14,000 fines for each violation. In response, Daily Wire CEO Jeremy Boreing announced that, although the conservative media outlet does employ more than 100 people, it has no plans to fall in line with Biden’s “unconstitutional and tyrannical vaccine mandate.”
Shapiro, for his part, told Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt that The Daily Wire “is staffing up on the legal side and is “already getting any lawsuit ready” to fight the White House.
“I think he’s made a huge tactical legal blunder here,” he explained. “I think there’s every possibility that something like this goes to the Supreme Court level and suddenly we see a complete re-writing of the administrative state because Joe Biden couldn’t get his act in order and decided to issue a tyrannical and authoritarian order here.”
The popular podcaster went on to argue he believes the political maneuvering is a result of Biden’s various “failures” in less than one year.
“We’re not even a year into this presidency and this is a failed president on every level,” Shapiro said. “And so he’s attempting to redirect all of the ire at his presidency at your fellow Americans. You’re supposed to be angry at your neighbor [being] unvaccinated if you’re vaccinated, even though Joe Biden yesterday said you’re unvaccinated neighbor effectively poses no threat to you. Instead, Joe Biden wants you to be angry at that neighbor as opposed to him.”
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