Two of the most hate-mongering millennial pundits, Candace Owens and Tomi Lahren, went to the Twitter mat over Kanye West, of all people.
It started after West walked away from conservative politics, just weeks after bonding with Donald Trump and the right-wing with some unhinged remarks about slavery and being bullied by Saturday Night Live for wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat.
It turns out Owens and her conservative associate Charlie Kirk (both are Fox News faves) were at least part of the reason. The Daily Beast explains:
Both Kirk, the founder of the campus conservative group, and Owens, Turning Point’s director of communications, saw their profiles skyrocket in the mainstream after West tweeted that he liked “the way Candace Owens thinks” in April.
[…]
Kirk and Owens rarely missed an opportunity to mention their connection to West. But Owens apparently went too far for West on Saturday, when she announced a Turning Point “Blexit” campaign aimed at convincing black voters to leave the Democratic Party.
Owens initially claimed that West had been involved in the campaign’s merchandise, telling the New York Post that the bright colors on its T-shirts and the campaign’s logo—a black figure with its limbs outstretched to form an “X”—were “created by my dear friend and fellow superhero Kanye West.”
Um, no West had not created the design. Not only that, it caused him to walk away from his newfound BFFs on the right.
I introduced Candace to the person who made the logo and they didn’t want their name on it so she used mine. I never wanted any association with Blexit. I have nothing to do with it.
— ye (@kanyewest) October 30, 2018
My eyes are now wide open and now realize I’ve been used to spread messages I don’t believe in. I am distancing myself from politics and completely focusing on being creative !!!
— ye (@kanyewest) October 30, 2018
That set off a right-wing backlash against Owens and Kirk. Owens posted a self-serving blog post in which she publicly apologized to West and Trump. Claiming to “bare full responsibility,” Owens also proved that even when trying to show humility she is smug and supercilious: “I conceptualized BLEXIT in February of this year backstage at CPAC. Nobody really knew me then, but I knew in that very moment that I was the person who was meant to lead black America out of the darkness and away from the lies and deception of policies that have paralyzed our progress.”
Enter Tomi Lahren, whom I think of as the millennial version of Ann Coulter only with less charisma and more hostility. As Mediaite noted, Lahren warned conservatives against attaching themselves to West months ago. Earlier this week, she tweeted:
Are you gonna turn on Kanye now? The ship was doomed to sink from the start but hunger for fame & money was placed over the movement. Funny how he was a “free thinker” before and now he’s a “traitor.” Sounds a lot like a tactic of the Left. You made your bed, now lie in it.
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) October 30, 2018
That brought on this not-so-high-minded response from Owens:
Tomi,
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 31, 2018
I think I can speak on behalf of people on both sides of the political aisle and say we are sorry about your failed career.
The desperation to be relevant again by constantly subbing me and/or attacking @kathygriffin weekly—doesn’t bode well for any movement.
Grow up. https://t.co/iILhUQhYko
Then Lahren hit back:
I’m talking about Leftist tactics, conservative ideas & failure of identity politics. YOU are talking about ME. If you’re trying to bait me into some Twitter war, it’s not going to work. It’s not about us. You can threaten me or lob low blows about my career but I’m not playing. https://t.co/d8iRSyvmNZ
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) October 31, 2018
Meow!