President Donald Trump escalated a feud with conservative commentator Candace Owens by sharing a doctored TIME magazine cover branding her “Vile Person of the Year.”
Trump shared the doctored cover in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday, writing that Owens was an “extremely LOW IQ individual” whose stock had “fallen a long way.”
The post is the president’s latest attack on Owens, who along with other conservative commentators, has drawn Trump’s ire in recent months over criticism of the war in Iran. Earlier this month, Owens branded Trump a “genocidal lunatic” and called for his removal via the 25th Amendment after Trump threatened to wipe out Iranian civilization.
Newsweek has contacted a representative for Owens for comment via email and through social media.
Why It Matters
The war in Iran exposed a rift in Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, with several conservative media figures who were among the president’s most prominent supporters becoming some of the most outspoken critics of the war. Trump has hit back at Owens, Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones, labelling them “nut jobs” and “losers” whose views don’t represent the MAGA movement.
But while the president remains deeply popular with Republican voters, polls show his approval rating has fallen sharply since January. Meanwhile, rising gas prices and the possibility of lasting economic fallout from the war could threaten Republican chances of retaining control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
What To Know
The edited TIME magazine cover shared by Trump shows Owen wearing a bandana surrounded by phrases including “CANDACE OWENS LIES, LIES, LIES” and “USES RICH WHITE MEN.”
In his post, Trump also said Owen’s “attack on the First Lady of France is despicable.”
Owens is facing a defamation lawsuit from France’s first couple after she she repeatedly pushed unfounded claims that President Emmanuel Macon’s wife, Brigitte Macron, was born a man.
Former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a once loyal Trump supporter who resigned from Congress after a public falling out with the president, hit back at Trump for the post about Owens, saying that it shows he hates women “who don’t worship him” and that such posts would turn “the majority of women in America against him.”
“President Trump hates women he can’t control, who don’t worship him, women who actually worship God, and are much more intelligent than he is. Women like @RealCandaceO,” she wrote on X.
“This cruel post about Candace looks like something Laura Loomer would conjure up as she gives Trump his talking points, policy decisions, and political advice which is literally destroying him and the Republican Party.”
She said that Trump “refused to support the women who were victims of Epstein, he called me a traitor for supporting them and not bowing to him, he is attacking Megyn Kelly, and Candace Owens.” Greene also said the only people in his Cabinet that Trump has “either fired or privately told to leave” are women, including former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and former Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Trump ally and conservative activist Laura Loomer cheered Trump’s post, writing on X: “‘Vile Person of the Year’. More like the century.”
Loomer also responded to Greene’s post, saying that the president doesn’t hate women.
“He has a female Chief of Staff and most of his cabinet positions are filled by women,” she wrote in another X post. “Trump has always been kind to me.”
Trump’s History of Insulting Women
The president has a long history of comments about women, dating back to before he entered politics. He has attacked them by disparaging their appearance and even compared them to animals.
In recent months, he has insulted female reporters for asking questions about various topics. Last November, he referred to Bloomberg News’ Catherine Lucey as “piggy” after she asked about the Jeffrey Epstein files aboard Air Force One.
In February, he criticized CNN‘s Kaitlan Collins after she asked a question about the Epstein scandal at the White House, calling her the “worst reporter.” Last month, he clashed with a female reporter aboard Air Force, calling her a “very obnoxious person.”
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