Conservative commentator Candace Owens clapped back after President Donald Trump insulted her in his latest social media rant.
Trump, 79, took a shot at Owens, 36, and other former allies while reacting to a CNN poll comparing his favorable approval rating among Republicans to conservative critics such as Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly.
“Tucker is a Low IQ person – Always easy to beat, and highly overrated!!! So are Megyn Kelly, ‘Candace’(Really Dumb and mentally ill!), and Bankrupt Alex Jones, who is completely ‘fried,’” Trump wrote via Truth Social on Friday, April 17. “There are others, also! Then we have some that are VERY GOOD, true MAGA all the way, and smart. I should do a list of good, bad, and somewhere in the middle. Wouldn’t that be fascinating???”
Owens seemingly deflected being called “really dumb and mentally ill” by the president by questioning the format of his post.
“Why is my name in quotation marks though?” she joked via X on Friday.
The war of words between Trump and Owens has escalated in recent weeks due to the U.S. and Israel launching military operations in Iran on February 28. On March 9, Owens accused Trump of “very clearly betray[ing] the American people” by not following through on campaign promises.
“[The president] has betrayed every last single one of us,” she alleged. “The very people we had to fight to get Trump into office, he is now partnered with and insulting us and he thinks we’re too stupid to notice or something? He promised low gas prices. He promised no more forever wars, no more involvement in Middle East conflict. And we are now getting the exact opposite.”
Owens also claimed that the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk was the “first casualty of the war in Iran.” Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10, 2025. He was 31. (Suspected shooter Tyler James Robinson has been charged with aggravated murder and additional felonies. He has not yet entered a plea.)
“Trump has [spent more time] debunking whether he’s balding than he’s done [investigating who murdered Kirk], who was a good friend,” Owens alleged. “Trump has loyalty to no one but himself.”
Trump fired back at Owens and other former allies — including Kelly, 55, Jones, 52, and Carlson, 56 — for their continued criticism of the Iran conflict in April.
“I know why Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones have all been fighting me for years, especially by the fact that they think it is wonderful for Iran, the Number One State Sponsor of Terror, to have a Nuclear Weapon — Because they have one thing in common, Low IQs,” Trump wrote via his Truth Social platform on April 9. “They’re stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too!”
The president described Owens and other critics as “nutjobs” and “troublemakers” who “say anything necessary for some ‘free’ and cheap publicity.”
“Now they think they get some ‘clicks’ because they have Third Rate Podcasts, but nobody’s talking about them, and their views are the opposite of MAGA — Or I wouldn’t have won the Presidential Election in a LANDSLIDE,” he claimed.
Owens escalated the fiery rhetoric on April 10 by claiming Trump “belongs to the Epstein class,” in reference to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. (Epstein died by suicide at age 66 in August 2019 after being arrested on federal sex crimes charges. Donald and his wife, Melania Trump, have repeatedly denied involvement with Epstein.)
“You chose money above respect, and what an absolute shame you chose to do that toward the end of your life … You can’t take money, and things and stuff with you when you go,” Owens told Trump. “Just your soul … and you sold yours for what … another gilded ballroom?”
