Candace Owens Insists She Has ‘Not Insulted’ Ben Shapiro Despite Anti-Semitic Crack, Calling Him ‘Emotionally Unhinged’

The Daily Wire’s Candace Owens insisted that she had “not insulted” her colleague Ben Shapiro publicly on her show Monday despite having previously directed an anti-Semitic dig at him and declaring that he was “emotionally unhinged” in the wake of the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel.

On Monday afternoon, Owens released an episode of her show featuring Rabbi Michael Barclay in which the pair discussed a column critical of the former written by the latter.

“You write ‘She castigated Ben Shapiro for being passionately pro-Israel.’ I couldn’t find a clip on that,” said Owens, challenging Barclay to produce evidence for his claim. “So I just wanted to ask you what you were referring to because actually what happened was Ben insulted me publicly. I have not insulted Ben publicly.”

Shapiro did fire the first shot at Owens this past November, when he characterized her behavior in the wake of the October 7 attack as “disgraceful.”

“I think that her faux sophistication on these particular issues has been ridiculous,” he continued, presumably referring to her erroneous claim that Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter is the only place “where Muslims are allowed to live” in the Israeli capital as well as her suggestion that Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip constituted genocide.

Shortly after Shapiro’s comments circulated online, Owens shared a cryptic post online that appeared to be aimed at her colleague.

“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,” Owens wrote, quoting Matthew 5:9.

“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,” she added before declaring that “Christ is King.”

The comment, which appeared to be an anti-Semitic crack suggesting that Shapiro was motivated by pecuniary gain, prompted Shapiro to urge her to quit if she felt her job was coming “between” her and God.

“You have been acting unprofessional and emotionally unhinged for weeks now. And we have all had to sit back and allow it and have all tried to exercise exceeding understanding for your raw emotion,” shot back Owens in what most would consider to be an insulting reply. “But you cross a certain line when you come for scripture and read yourself into it. I will not tolerate it.”

Later, she appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show, where she said she would have been “embarrassed”  to have behaved as Shapiro had and submitted that their feud “speaks more to Ben’s character than it speaks to mine.”

More recently, Owens has waded into open anti-Semitism, fretting about a “sinister” group of Jews in Hollywood, inveighing against “political Jews,” and liking a post from a user asking a rabbi if he was “drunk on Christian blood” in an endorsement of a centuries-old conspiracy theory.