Why Ben Shapiro is Angry with Candace Owens
/If you hopped on the internet yesterday, you may have the impression that Ben Shapiro from The Daily Wire got mad at Candace Owens for posting scriptures in the New Testament and proclaiming, “Christ is King.” If you’ve been paying attention for a while, you’d know it’s a lot deeper than that.
On Tuesday, a video of Ben Shapiro discussing Candace Owens’ Israel-Gaza commentary went viral. He said her behavior was “disgraceful” and her “faux sophistication on these particular issues has been ridiculous.”
Owens didn’t tweet directly to Ben, but she did post spliced Bible passages from Matthew 5:9-11 and Matthew 6:24. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Later, she tweeted about her appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show. On Wednesday evening, shortly before the episode dropped, Shapiro tweeted, “Candace, if you feel that taking money from The Daily Wire somehow comes between you and God, by all means quit.”
Owens responded to Shapiro, claiming he had been “acting unprofessional and emotionally unhinged for weeks now,” but he had crossed a line by reading himself into scripture. She also said Shapiro was “utterly out of line for suggesting that I cannot quote biblical scripture,” which is something he did not do.
Back when conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh was still with us, he had a particular pastime that he loved: media tweaking. He’d make a comment that the “drive-by media” would pick up and rant about. Rush would notice, comment, and laugh. Owens also tweaks, but she often pretends to be surprised when she receives the reaction she fished for.
For example, Candace Owens tweeted on November 3, “No government anywhere has a right to commit 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.”
The timing for this tweet is suspicious, given the critics of Israel falsely accuse them of committing genocide. Dave Rubin responded by thanking Candace for her implied condemnation of Hamas. Candace replied to Rubin that it was “interesting” he interpreted her comments that way, despite not naming any nations. He again thanked her, and Candace called Rubin “absolutely demented.”
But if “genocide is always bad” isn’t a blanket condemnation of Hamas, who was Candace Owens condemning? Ami Kozak, a Jewish comedian, came on Owens’ podcast and called her out. “If a year ago, or out of the context of October 7, you had made that statement about genocide, fair enough. But did you really not think given the accusations of genocide being leveled against Israel continually by the far left—which is completely nonsensical—when in fact it’s the Hamas Charter that specifically explicitly calls for the annihilation of Israel and Jews worldwide, and yet they’re leveling at the Israel side that they’re trying to commit genocide, so for you to say a statement like that without any contextualization as to where it’s coming from…you’re…it’s surprising to me that you would be surprised by the response, and not thinking it’s just a provocation or a contrarian sort of stance.”
Owens rejected Kozak’s comments because the genocide tweet wasn’t too far away from her condemnation of Congressman Brian Mast (made on November 1). She claimed Mast pretended there were no innocent civilians in Palestine, accused him of using “genocidal language,” and said it was “the most despicable thing that I’ve ever heard.”
Mast’s comments were very controversial, but the context wasn’t about the IDF’s military response and believing everyone killed was an enemy combatant. The discussion was about the Hamas International Financing Prevention Act and limiting aid resources which could possibly have a dual use for terrorism because civilians and children are indoctrinated with antisemitism, and he doesn’t want to risk accidentally aiding more future terrorism. That’s the context Owens willingly or ignorantly deprived her audience of.
Ami Kozak then asked Candace Owens if she would draw a moral equivalence to what happened on October 7 and Israel’s military response, and she chose to redirect the conversation to “where the line gets drawn.” Owens compared it to launching war after 9/11, to which Ami Kozak explained we clearly know who attacked Israel, why, what they want, and that they won’t stop. Kozak said “moral confusions” with critics painting Israel as the aggressors, after being provoked by an enemy that already broke a ceasefire, was “very dangerous.”
Candace did not acknowledge whether she agreed Israel was moral in their mission against Hamas; she would only say it was dangerous not to discuss whether “1,500 Israeli civilians led to World War III,” and she didn’t think people asking that question should be called antisemitic.
Kozak later stated Hamas doesn’t share our same values; it’s more than just a land dispute, it’s an ideological mission to “rid the world of Israel and the Jews.”
Candace Owens followed up with, “Well, Jews live very comfortably in the United States of America…”
Kozak reminded Owens that Jews lived comfortably in Germany before WWII, but she tried to dismiss him. Owens really struggles when people bring up abhorrent things that happened in history, like slavery and the Holocaust. “I think there’s a lot more meaningful chatter and discussion that we can have. We don’t have to resort to that kind of…you know.”
“History repeats itself if you forget it,” Kozak warned. All four of Kozak’s grandparents are Holocaust survivors.
Candace rebutted by asking, “So, what do you make of the Holocaust survivors and Jewish people in New York City that are protesting on behalf of Palestine?” Owens immediately complimented herself, “That’s a great question.” Kozak immediately proceeded to answer.
Later in the interview, Kozak lamented how critics of Israel take for granted that Arabs in Israel live better than most others in the Arab world because Israel is a “bastion of Western democracy and liberal democracy.” Candace Owens tried to debunk that statement by comparing Israel to the Jim Crow South because when she went to Jerusalem for a visit, she saw the “Muslim quarters” and came to the conclusion that Muslims were legally designated to that area. Kozak corrected her, explaining it’s no different than having a Jewish community in New Jersey.
The following day, Candace Owens decided to do a monologue on her show explaining why Israel has been and is losing public support. She mentioned how celebrities like Jamie Foxx had been falsely accused of antisemitism, but she also included how the pro-Israel lobby mocked her for “asking questions” about the Muslim quarters, ignoring the fact she made a moral judgment against Israel based on her misconception.
This video has been shared on social media by users who believe “Israel does not have the right to exist” and are thrilled “America will leave them stranded.”
On top of all that, Candace Owens also got into an online spat with Megyn Kelly about the “blacklists” of students who blamed the October 7 attack on Israel alone. Owens and Tucker Carlson discussed how angry they were at college donors for continuing to fund the schools while they pushed anti-white racism and drawing the line at antisemitism. Carlson went far enough to say he hated them. But though they should have done the right thing and stood against racism, there is still a distinct difference in pointing at victims who were brutally killed and essentially say, “It’s your fault and you got what you deserved.”
So, when Ben Shapiro said Candace Owens’ “faux sophistication is ridiculous,” he had very solid ground to stand on.
Perhaps Owens randomly decided to tweet out scriptures, but I find that hard to believe. Does Candace Owens think she’s being persecuted for Christ? Because God has nothing to do with her bad takes. Why splice those two passages together? What does the love of money have to do with anything? Was she trying to say she won’t let her job control her? Was serving two masters a dig on “dual loyalty?” Who knows? But Owens could have simply clarified. She obviously had a reason, and so many speculated it was about Ben Shapiro. He certainly took the bait.
Candace Owens told Tucker Carlson that she would never go to a private event and say bad things about Ben Shapiro, even though she didn’t try to resolve the issue before going on his show. She also slyly mentioned unpopular political opinions Ben Shapiro had, such as being pro-vaccine. She even called him pro-Big Pharma and mentioned that his mom is a doctor. That certainly wasn’t relevant to the Israel issue, but she wanted the audience to know Shapiro has taken some Ls.
But one very relevant disagreement Owens failed to bring up was Shapiro’s past disappointment when Owens defended Kanye West going “death con 3” on the Jews. West later went on Tim Pool’s show and made antiemetic comments. And while on Info Wars, West expressed his love and appreciation for Adolf Hitler.
After Israel was attacked on October 7, activists and media personalities tried to diminish Israel by making moral equivalencies to Israel and Hamas and even stating Israel was the aggressor and the terrorist attack was justified. Despite the fact that Hamas officials have plainly stated they would commit more October 7 atrocities, many called for a ceasefire.
Ami Kozak warned about the dangers of not having moral clarity on this issue and the dangers of not understanding murder and self-defense. Now, young people on TikTok are agreeing with Osama bin Laden’s letter to America, insinuating we deserved what happened on 9/11. These same people believe Israel got what it deserved, too.
Shapiro said Candace Owens’ comments were “disreputable.” She’s had viral embarrassing moments, and her content is being shared by antisemites to justify their hatred of a nation they wish to see destroyed. The Daily Wire hosts disagree on a variety of topics. Ben Shapiro has had some infuriating opinions, and he’s certainly been wrong. But since Ben Shapiro is a Jew and was once the number one target of antisemitism online, it’s not hard to imagine he’s upset about a voice in his company empowering antisemites. Candace Owens passively-aggressively tweeting scriptures followed by “Christ is King,” is not the reason why Shapiro is angry. He shouldn’t have reacted to Owens’ tweak, but his response doesn’t negate her behavior or passionate ignorance.
