Political commentator Candace Owens posted publicly on X on Friday saying that she would like to have a debate against her former Daily Wire colleague Ben Shapiro on the topics of Israel and "the *current* definition of antisemitism."
Owens left the Daily Wire around two weeks ago after working there for three years. Much discourse on social media has indicated that Owens left the media company because of controversial rhetoric about Israel.
Shapiro formerly called Owens's rhetoric surrounding the Israel-Hamas war "disgraceful" back in November.
I would like to debate Ben Shapiro on Israel and the *current* definition of antisemitism. Can somebody make that happen? https://t.co/237rKKIkoD
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) April 5, 2024
Then, on Friday, Owens reposted a video of comedian Andrew Schultz who claimed that Owens is a more skilled debater than Shapiro, saying that the latter "only debates college kids."
"Anytime he debates someone who's worthy, he either gets washed or bare minimum a stalemate," Schultz continued. "I've never seen him win a debate against someone who's educated in the matter."
Shapiro responds to Owen's challenge
Shapiro accepted the challenge, claiming that he offered Owens the exact debate back in February. When he offered to have the debate on his show, Owens declined, stating "you can can appreciate why I’d prefer to keep this off the Daily Wire platform - as well as the true reason why we were never able to make any discussion happen."
When Owens said she wanted a neutral moderator for the debate, Shapiro accused her of "wanting to hide behind one," claiming that the moderator Owens recommended would be biased toward her, and said it should just be one-on-one next Monday afternoon.
Owens shut down Shapiro's accusation, saying that she's "just choosing not to bring eyes to the Daily Wire," while recommending other moderators such as Joe Rogan or Lex Fridman - both of which have a large internet following. Fridman responded to Owens saying he could host a debate.
Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing stepped in for Shapiro as Shabbat began and the latter could not respond to Owens, and reiterated Shapiro's initial offer to do it on his platform one-on-one in Nashville, with "no no ads on the video and no charge to watch it. No one cashes in."
Owens replied saying she's in London and cannot commit to the Tennessee city, telling Boreing that "You have known for months I was going to be in London this week. Daily Wire employees were intially slated to be here with me, so publicly pretending you guys are not aware of this seems odd," but said that she can do the debate virtually.
Boreing responded by saying that he didn't know Owen's travel schedule, but said that Daily Wire doesn't need to be involved at all, whether it's their channel, studio, or crew, but that they will not agree to have a moderator or do it virutally. Owens accepted.