Daily Wire splits with Candace Owens over Israel stance
Trump ally Candace Owens is “looking forward to her next journey” after leaving alternative conservative media outlet the Daily Wire, The Guardian reported on March 22.
The news site’s co-founder Jeremy Boreing said, “Daily Wire and Candace Owens have ended their relationship.”
It is understood that she was dismissed from the site and the decision for this was due to her criticism of Israel since it began its genocidal war on Gaza in October.
Often seen as the brainchild of fellow conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, the Daily Wire has often posted videos on YouTube in support of Israel and Mr Shapiro is a staunch supporter of the country and has in the past been found to have made derogatory remarks about Palestinians and Arabs more generally.
In 2010, Shapiro famously wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Israelis like to build. Arabs like to bomb crap and live in open sewage. This is not a difficult issue. #settlementsrock”.
As divisions in the Democrat Party are widely highlighted over the Biden administration’s stance on Gaza, it is causing animosity, to a lesser extent, on the political right in America.
Owens likes to portray herself as a “strong black voice for Trump”, often urging African Americans, who have historically voted Democrat in overwhelming numbers, to “free themselves” from the “ills” of the Democratic Party.
Owens met the controversial ex-president on numerous occasions whilst he was in office.
Shapiro, who boasted about voting for Trump in 2020, sees himself as a more “traditional and mainstream” Republican who has voiced his reservations about the former President prior to the 2020 election and has often been supportive of US foreign policy.
Despite some differences, the pair had an overall positive working relationship, lampooning “woke”, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), critical race theory and trans ideology, common talking points in right-wing circles.
The feud between Shapiro and Owens reportedly began over a tweet that the latter wrote in November in relation to the United States’ military funding to Israel.
READ: Israeli govt spokesperson suspended over social media row
Owens wrote on November 3, “No government anywhere has a right to commit a genocide, ever. There is no justification for a genocide. I can’t believe this even needs to be said or is even considered the least bit controversial to state.”
Since then, Shapiro has commented that Owens’ remarks on Israel were “unacceptable” and “disgraceful”.
She was then accused by many of invoking antisemitic tropes when she talked about how “political Jews” and a “very small ring of specific people are using the fact that they are Jewish to shield themselves from any criticism.”
Notable critics were the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a campaign group which combats extremism and antisemitism but has also been accused by pro-Palestinian activists of portraying criticism of Israel and Zionism as anti-Jewish hatred, who accused the right-wing pundit of stoking hatred against the Jewish community.
Owens replied to the ADL on X saying, “Everyone can see what you guys are doing to me. Your pattern is well established and the world is waking up to it. My crime is having stood up for myself against your network of smears.”
The political commentator also saw the severing of ties between her and the Daily Wire as a blessing in disguise and boasted to her 4.9 million followers that “The rumours (about the sacking) are true – I am finally free.”
In a Tucker Carlson-esque move, she is expected to start her work, to a larger extent, as an independent pundit in the near future.
The Guardian/ Forbes
