Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro is facing widespread ridicule after criticizing the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold birthright citizenship—only for social media users to respond with one of his own past posts.
The controversy erupted after the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed that children born on American soil are citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment, rejecting an effort to overturn the long-established constitutional principle through executive action.
Reacting to the ruling, Shapiro called the decision a “legal abomination,” arguing that decades of failed immigration policy had left the country with an irreparable problem.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling on birthright citizenship is a legal abomination. But it’s just more evidence that Congress and multiple presidents, in abdicating their duty on immigration for decades, have screwed America irredeemably,” Shapiro posted on X.
His comments quickly went viral—but not for the reason he expected.
Within minutes, users resurfaced one of Shapiro’s own tweets from 2022, written after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. At the time, Shapiro had dismissed criticism of the Court with a brief message:
“I’m sorry the Constitution is happening to you.”
Critics immediately pointed out the apparent contradiction.
Many argued that if Shapiro believed constitutional rulings should simply be accepted when they aligned with his views in 2022, the same logic should apply to the Court’s interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment today.
The irony fueled thousands of reactions across social media, with users reposting the old tweet alongside his latest comments. Memes, screenshots, and side-by-side comparisons spread rapidly, turning Shapiro’s previous words into one of the platform’s most shared responses.
Birthright citizenship has been part of the U.S. Constitution since the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868. The amendment states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” In its latest ruling, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that protection, concluding that children born in the United States are citizens regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
Supporters of the ruling praised the Court for upholding more than 150 years of constitutional precedent, while opponents argued that immigration policy should be addressed through Congress rather than the courts.
For Shapiro, however, much of the online conversation focused less on the ruling itself and more on the resurfaced 2022 tweet.
As many users joked, the internet never forgets—and in the age of screenshots, there’s almost always an old post waiting to come back.
