Transcript for:
Candace Owens Discusses Departure from Daily Wire

[Music] why did you leave the daily wire well unfortunately I can't talk about the specific reasons that I left the daily wire but I what I can do is respond to whatever reasons were given to the public uh and obviously no sooner did we agree to leave than Andrew claven of the daily wire did an entire episode uh stating that the reasons that I was leaving was because I was anti-semitic and I was engaging in a type of anti-Semitism that was hard to pin down and that is why in my first episode of launching my independent podcast I hit back pretty hard at him because you know I think it's it's pretty despicable first and foremost as a colleague who I had a great relationship with to have engaged in that knowing that I was not at Liberty to to say anything you know I thought it was a very underhanded disgusting tactic and I responded in force I want to play you what Ben Shapiro told me when I asked him about this on uncensored one of the consequences of this war has been a lot of very high passions on both sides a lot of angry disagreements you and your company have been at the center of a very uh high-profile one at the moment with Candice Owens who's now left daily wire um was she fired or did she leave of her own bition I'm not going to speak to this topic fce at all at all the only thing I will say is what I've said all along with regard to Candice or with regard to any of our other hosts I am not in hiring and firing position with the daily wire I'm a co-founder of the daily wire I'm a co-owner of the daily wire I'm not actually in management and as far as the Free Speech situation what I will say is that no company has the obligation to literally pay anyone that the daily wire is a is a publisher it is not a platform do you agree with that Candace agree with which part well okay any of it well I think think that it's interesting and I'd love to sit down with and debate Ben Shapiro on a number of topics particularly cancel culture because I know that he's made some comments in the past that he believes that Publishers platforms should allow people to have different ideas and so those particular comments to me sound in contrast to what he has said in the past but I can't speak on behalf of him obviously I personally believe that media companies are healthier when you allow people to have different opinions and allow people to debate those opinions personally I love to see a debate between two people and so I can only tell you what my perspective is and can't really speak for him I mean he made the point at the end there that any company any private company in when it comes to free speech is not compelled to pay people to work for them I mean would you accept that as a as a principle well what I would say again is that it just kind of runs into what is wrong I guess the question you could ask is what is wrong if CNN fires somebody for having a different opinion what then is wrong if Fox News fires somebody for having a different opinion your answer would have to be that it's not wrong and that companies are at will to curate whatever belief system that they want and to to not allow free speech so you know out of interest is it true that you signed an NDA and that's why you can't really talk about this in detail I cannot speak in detail about any of that stuff you can't even confirm whether you've had an NDA I am not free to speak about any topic pertaining to contracts signed or not signed and so you see this is where it gets interested for me because you you referenced Andrew claven from the daily wire I want to play a part of what he said and then I'll come back to you yeah the daily wire parted waves with Candace Owens and part of it was things that she was saying that we felt were strongly uh anti-semitic and she was doing it in such a way that it was kind of hard to pin down so I was trying to show where these things happen so I I'm amused because I I've been involved in a lot of contracts in my time I've been an employer I've been an employee and so on I don't understand why somebody from the daily work can be so explicit about the reasons you left and yet you are not able to be as explicit to defend yourself or to counter what they're saying amen Pierce amen I think that is probably a question that was on a lot of people's minds and you know what can I say other than what was it that Kanye was saying about contracts and you know I I think it is even if you believe that it is valid for that to happen I think it is immoral to allow someone to attack someone and to not allow them to defend their their name and so for me Andrew actually Rose to the level of defamation when he started claiming that I had actually said things that I had never said I mean he flagrantly lies and I showed that on my platform when he pretended that I didn't an episode suggesting that Adolf Hitler burning books was a good thing I wasn't even speaking about Adolf Hitler it's a nonsense to think that I would do that on my platform and it's a trick also it's it's meant to make people feel emotional like oh my gosh I can't believe that she's supporting Adolf Hitler and I thought it was nasty business I thought it was it was extremely nasty business and you know for me Pier it's important for me to State my name means a lot to me you know my grandfather grew up on a sharecropping Farm one of 12 children know in in the segregated sou Robert Owen Senor and for him to have worked the way that he worked and to have instilled the Christian values in me that he instilled In Me growing up the idea that I would allow someone to so flagrantly throw dirt on his name it was never going to fly did you ever say or do anything which to a Jewish ear could be construed as anti-Semitic well let's be clear about all of these topics whether we're talking about racism sexism anti-Semitism everything can be construed to an ear when you're talking about a subjective ear that I believe that this is racist I mean I could say hey Piers you even asking me questions and to me it feels racist right a feeling and a fact are two different things so what someone constru something is meaningless factually speaking I have never said anything that is anti-Semitic and had I have said something that was anti-semitic Andrew claven would have simply showed the clip right a lot of attention has been focused on you constantly referencing Christ as king um many people believing that although those words in themselves if you're a Christian as you are um would not be offensive that to Jewish people when they're being whipped up on social media as they were at the time by people who are genu genuine white supremacists and pretty Brazen anti-semites that being smart as you are you would have known that that to deliberately use that phrase repeatedly in that time in that climate was a deliberate Act of provocation to people like Ben Shapiro who obviously are extremely high-profile Jewish people do do you accept that I'm sorry what which time frame are you talking about you say at that time well since the start of the Israel Hamas War yeah no so that phrase if you're talking about when it began to be a scandal because I think everyone was quite confused when there was suddenly this narrative that it could be construed as anti-semitic which is why it required so much explaining by people of when it became anti-semitic I posted a standalone Bible verse just this is just a pure fact uh calling for peace and at the end of the verse I ended it and said Christ is King last November Andrew claven references that the reason why this even became a scandal is because of Andrew clav Andrew claven did an episode called because Christ is really King and then he accused me wrongly of spitting that phrase at a Jew that simply never happened as I showed in my first episode back it was just made that up out of thin air I posted a standalone VI verse and I wrote at the end of it Christ is King and then a Jew responded to me telling me to quit my job so what happens sometimes is then time passes and people try to rewrite history but we're not going to do AEV visionist history here I tweeted Christ as king appropriately following a bible verse When I was 38 weeks pregnant and I stand by that proverb and I stand by my declaring Christ to be king as I have done many times in basic Christian doctrine two things about that why would you tweet that particular passage from the Bible ending Christ is King on 14th of November 23 what was your motivation happy to answer that question so if people remember what was happening at that time um Ben Shapiro was caught uh on a tape calling me faux sophisticated and some other stuff you know a disgrace I think was the term and again I was 38 weeks pregnant about to give birth and my husband just told me every media person in the world is contacting you globally asking you to give a comment to say something it's obviously a very traumatizing thing to go through in the moment when you're that pregnant and suddenly you're like I just don't want to deal with this drama I don't mean like trauma in the very leftist I feel traumatized by this but just it's a lot happening leading up to birth and my husband told me to read the Bible he said just read the Bible and you don't have to answer these media members you don't have to give a comment you don't have to say anything these things are all fickle it doesn't matter just to be clear on the chronology because the the video of Ben saying what he said we said think her I think her behavior during this has been disgraceful without a doubt I think her yeah that came out on 15th of November 2023 but you had posted what you posted on the 14th of November that's that's not correct you have your timeline wrong it was the video came first so you were responding directly to the video no can I I'm yeah I'm trying to finish the story but you just have your just so you know chronologically you have it wrong his insult came first I think it was on the 12th the insult came were you made aware of the insult because it and then did found out on Twitter with everybody else I it was just trending you know and um so just to go back into it my husband told me to read the Bible and to realize that these things are fickle and that all of these journalists that were asking me to respond to them are doing it because all they want is clicks and money and they want you you know they want to use you for a moment that's not going to matter in the scheme of things in your life and so I wanted to respond to all of these media members by saying that I'm calling for I'm calling for peace you know Christ is King of my heart I don't need I don't this right now so that was it when you appeared on Tako Carlson on the 16th of November you said I I will say I'm not going to respond with the same ad homonym attack um but you also told him that day that that was when you first saw the video I didn't tell him I first saw the video on Tucker Carlson what do you I don't understand your question what I told Tucker I saw the video on tuer Carlson no no that you had seen the video for the first time that morning that I saw the video trending on Twitter not the morning of Tucker's interview sorry I'm just trying to work out the the exact correct chology I can help you yeah so you saw the video on on Twitter and then you on Twitter yes and then you put out the passage from the Bible as a reaction to seeing the video yes like I said 20 maybe it was 24 hours later after that whatever one was contacting me for comment I gave the media no comment so if you look on all the articles there was no comment given to me at that time but anything because I decided that peace was the best strategy forward Tucker was booked that day but he had booked me six weeks in advance that was just his luck that that whole incident took place right um you know they knew I was going on his show he books way out in advance so it just happened to be his luck or Misfortune whichever way you look at it that that was going on at the same time so in the buildup to this you'd already made it clear that you youd said on Twitter on November the 3D 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 you didn't say what you were talking about in that tweet but it was widely assumed to be Gaza and what Israel was doing in Gaza is that correct were you talking about Israel then no actually when I wrote that tweet if you look right before that tweet I had retweeted and liked something from a journalist named Yar Ali he had shared a clip of a congressman Brian Mast who got up on a platform and said that there's no such thing as an innocent Palestinian life that is Despicable genocidal language and um I I'm paraphrasing here but Yar Ali said and he's pro Israel by the way if I'm judging by what he puts online he said can we all just admit that this language is unacceptable and I tweeted that no government in the world and I was actually commenting on America um genocide is always wrong and so by the way even if I was talking about Israel or I was talking about Palestine that statement should hold is no justification World genocide so I was very surprised to see that tweet go viral and people so angry about it uh I was actually overseas at the moment I was in the UK and so it seemed very strange to me that people would have a problem with it no matter what side you're on but in that particular moment I was talking about Brian mass and on my show my very next show I clarified that and and do you think for the record that what Israel's been doing constitutes genocide well what I've been having trouble is all of the people that are pro- Israel and say it's not a genocide won't tell me what is a genocide how many what percentage of a population has to be killed before we can use the word genocide it's a funny little thing they won't tell you they won't tell you what constitutes genocide so I would like a clear understanding of how many Palestinians have to die before we are allowed to term it a genocide all of the experts can't agree on what a genocide actually is but they love to float around the world the word on virtually every other issue you know I had Rabbi barklay on my show on one of my last shows when I was on The Daily wire and I asked him that question pointedly what is genocide let us know experts what percentage of the population of Palestinians has to be killed before we are allowed to say that is genocide what I can tell you is I am completely uncomfortable and utterly against the amount of Palestinian innocent lives that have been lost in this conflict particularly children and any person who is fearful of stating that the death of innocent children has been utterly unacceptable is a coward I mean listen I completely agree but do you personally think it constitutes genocide which is the deliberate what I'm saying to you is we pursued on my show what is the number what is the official number that's it that mean somebody tell me and I'll give you an answer nobody try it try it when you have on both sides of the debate on what mean number here's my answer do they give you an answer well no because here's the point it's not about specific numbers it's about an but it has to be well no it's not it's about an intent to eradicate that's not true PE because in America they call they say that Native Americans it was a genocide committed by white men this is what they say right no but I'm talking about what the I'm talking about what the definition of a genocide is but what I'm telling you is that that would be incorrect because the majority of Native Americans died from small pox it was accidental some some 90% of Native Americans died from small pox and a genocide no understand I'm telling you what the what the the definition of genocides which is not about a specific number in any circumstance it's about an intent to Target and eradicate a whole People based on their EIC I'm disputing that but I telling you that they legally say within America that Native Americans a genocide was committed against Native Americans factually speaking 90% of them 90 to 93% of them died from small pox so it was actually an epidemic right so is is the definition shifting because it is my understanding from Rabbi barklay the definition of anti-semitism shifts so maybe the definition of genocide has shifted but let me T that genocide well let me read you the exact let me read you the exact wording and see whether you think it applies to well let me read you the exact definition of genocide from the Oxford English Dictionary the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular Nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that Nation or group so by that by that definition do you believe that is what's happening to the Palestinian people and it's being perpetrated by Israel well I would say is that Israel has proven in the past that they can be very specific when they want to get somebody out uh whether that's a hostage or any other certain military operation and what I am seeing happening forgetting the specific language of a genocide is something that I'm using my platform to speak out against because at the end of the day it doesn't matter to me what the media calls me I've had every headline I do not believe that they are being careful in what they are doing I think it has been a in almost it it seems to me the destruction of the hospitals and the schools and of the UN buildings would you say peers that you believe that's unintentional uh I I do not believe Israel's waging genocide I I think that do you believe but I'm asking you do you believe that the tarting in the hospital I'll clear with you I I I can answer the question I have said repeatedly in the last few weeks and months that I think the proportionality of Israel's response is now un acceptable and particularly since they decided to go into Rafa a refugee camp that they set up uh to then Target Hass in the middle of a refugee camp we bound to kill uh so many innocent civilians in the process I think is unacceptable but I'm just curious given that you tweeted about genocide and no government ever has a right to do it whether by your calculation from that definition what Israel is doing is deliberately killing a large number of people from a particular National ethnic group with the aim of destroying that National Group yeah well what I can say to you again I because these definitions shift I don't think we need to focus on the word because I'm telling you what I believe and my belief is that they are not being careful whatsoever my belief is that there has been too much loss of Palestinian life that's different to genocide that yeah but that okay that's fine we don't need to that's say I don't know why you're like obsessing over this one word it doesn't matter because you tweeted about genci you told me TW is about Brian Mass so you're you're Haring on this issue there's a lot more topics we should talk about being very clear how I feel about this issue the Israeli government is not being careful in how they're dealing with this I agree with you that the amount of death has been completely unacceptable when I tweeted that that was back in November so we're talking way more lives that have been lost and that tweet was about Brian MK so I get never imagined the amount of dead Palestinian children that I would see on my exfeed since then you know it's heartbreaking to me as a mother horrific to me that the media seems almost complicit in the dehumanization of Palestinians and I will not be on that side because at the end of the day the hit pieces the name calling the anti-Semitism the psychopathic language that seems to be coming out of people means nothing and I want to make sure everybody knows this right at the end of the day you are going to have to account to God for the things that you allowed for the things that you were complicit in and for the things that you did not have enough courage to State the amount of death of Palestinian children has been unacceptable full stop B and Yahoo in my view should not be given a an invitation to Congress I think it's unacceptable I agree unacceptable to be clear for whatever the reason when it comes to the topic of Israel it does seem that journalists are fearful to critique Israel why is that because I would say Piers that you too you too you seem a little fearful to critique Israel and to want to always seem that you're coming across a little bit understanding of everything they're doing what is it that makes journalistate journalist okay that be respon fearful of saying hey you know Israel has done a ton of things that have been very wrong yes and I have I have said they're wrong I think Netanyahu should go uh I think half of that cabinet should go because some of them have definitely been using genocidal language I think a lot of what Israel has been doing the last few weeks is completely unacceptable But ultimately I also from the start of this conflict believe that Israel not only had a right to defend itself after the terror attack on October the 7th but a fundamental duty to its people and here's where I'm just curious about your tweeting uh through this this procedure this whole War because on October the 7th you didn't tweet anything you didn't tweet anything October the 8th and October the 9th you tweeted so much World Peace ever since we got the orange man out of office so glad the adults are back in charge um a lot of people say well if you care this much about innocent people being killed why didn't you say anything when 1,200 people were massacred to death in the most brutal barbaric manner in this awful terror attack by Hamas and nearly 7,000 more were wounded some of them catastrophically and irreparably why did that not compel you to say anything well first and foremost uh Israel is a foreign country so typically I talk about topics have to do with America secondly you're only quoting my Twitter feed I'm also on Facebook I'm also on Instagram I also had had a daily podcast in which I did respond directly about what happened and called the events horrific multiple times multiple times said what Hamas did was absolutely horrific so you're using a snapshot of my Twitter feed where you're acknowledging that I didn't tweet for days uh to suggest that I didn't have anything to say about what had happened now to be clear I am consistent on all matters I do not want America involved whatsoever in anything that is happening in Israel I don't want my dollar sent over to Israel we should not be supporting Israel um obviously Thomas Massie has done a lot of work showing how it doesn't even make economic sense that we have so much debt and yet we're sending money over to support Israel and the biggest issue by the way that I have with Israel and talking about them being above reproach is the fact that they are supplying the arms to murder Christians okay in Armenia the oldest Christian country in the world and yet nobody talks about that for whatever reason it seems to be the circumstance that when Jewish people die in Israel it's wall-to-wall coverage but when Christians die all over the world nobody talks about it everyone wants to correlate everything to World War II everyone wants to talk about Adolf Hitler and the and rightfully so he was a hor Ric person but nobody wants to talk about Henrik yagoda right nobody wants to talk about the Bolsheviks nobody wants to talk about the Christian Holocaust I am tired of the media exhausted of the media not speaking about what is happening to Christians all around the world and it is especially horrific while at the exact same time that it is happening the slaughter of Christians in Armenia the arms being being supplied by Israel that the media turns the other way and says oh okay but what about is what about what's happening in Israel so you know what I'm asking for actual equality okay because it seems like this is like a special category the special relationship that we have I'm a Christian first okay and so my concerns are going to be with what's happening to Christians all around the world because it is us we are the number one most persecuted religion in the world and all Christians watching this need to realize the time is now to start speaking up because we have been silenced about the things that are happening to us for a very long time the media is very clearly not our friend when there is wall-to-wall coverage of Christians being killed in Armenia Christians being killed in Nigeria and the treatment of Christians in America and all across the globe today then you ask me if I will use my platform and I will use my voice to speak about what's happening in Israel how about that for