Candace Owens Calls Milo Yiannopoulos 'Vindictive' Amid Kanye Campaign Exit

Candace Owens has called fellow right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos "vindictive," amid his exit from Kanye West's 2024 presidential campaign.

West, 45, has been in a constant cycle of controversy over the past two months, after making a series of antisemitic comments, culminating in his praise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis during an appearance on Alex Jones' Infowars last week.

The rapper and fashion designer, who has legally changed his name to Ye, has been accompanied by Yiannopoulos and white nationalist Nick Fuentes on recent outings, including a controversial dinner with Donald Trump at the former president's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, days before Thanksgiving.

"Ye and I have come to the mutual conclusion that I should step away from his political team. Ye is a genius whom I have come to love and respect. We remain friends. I will continue to pray for Ye and all his endeavors," Yiannopoulos wrote on his Telegram channel Sunday.

In a separate post, which appears to have been deleted, but was viewed and captured in a screenshot by Newsweek, the far-right provocateur suggested he and West had a disagreement over staffing for the 2024 campaign.

"For the record, I had concerns about a potential new hire, but I never tried to get anyone fired—especially not people I personally brought in, who owe me their gratitude, loyalty and respect," Yiannopoulos wrote in the now-deleted post.

Ben Kew, editor-at-large at bilingual conservative platform El American, reacted to the news of Yiannopoulos' departure from West's campaign team on Sunday by tweeting: "I think it is fair to say that Milo Yiannopoulos's political consultancy services left quite a lot to be desired."

Responding to the post, Owens, who is known to be a friend of West, wrote: "Milo is a vindictive psychopath. Utterly void of conscience and lies without qualm."

While Owens offered no further explanation for her assertion on Twitter, the conservative commentator had shared a thread on the platform on November 25, stating that she did not introduce West to Yiannopoulos or Fuentes.

"I have never in my life been in contact with Milo [Yiannopoulos] (or Nick Fuentes)," she said. "That is not a personal shot at either of them—That is simply the truth. I met Milo twice: both times at the David Horowitz freedom center where we were both invited as speakers years ago."

"I was with Dave Rubin, he can attest to that fact," the Candace host continued. "Milo was nice to me both times. That is the extent of my relationship with Milo. I met him twice years ago at a conference."

"I did not introduce Ye to Milo," she added. "I simply could not have introduced Ye to Milo—I have never had any contact with him. Again, not a personal shot at anyone, just simply stating the truth. I was in London when they met and learned at the same time as everyone else."

Elsewhere in her Twitter thread, Owens, who wore a shirt emblazoned with the words "White Lives Matter" alongside West in October, also rejected purported claims that she "somehow connected Ye, Milo, and Nick Fuentes to take down Trump."

Newsweek has reached out to Yiannopoulos for comment.

Owens' criticism of Yiannopoulos comes days after it was revealed that West will no longer be acquiring Parler, a social media platform favored by those on the far right. Owens' husband, George Farmer, is the CEO of Parler, which prides itself on not censoring its users.

"In response to numerous media inquiries, Parlement Technologies would like to confirm that the company has mutually agreed with Ye to terminate the intent of sale of Parler," the statement said.

"This decision was made in the interest of both parties in mid-November. Parler will continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform for our vibrant community."

Will Sommer, a politics reporter for The Daily Beast, reported on Sunday that Yiannopoulos was fired by rapper West. Newsweek could not independently verify that reporting and attempted to contact West for comment.

"Milo Yiannopoulos has been fired from the Ye / Kanye entourage after a series of disastrous media appearances that saw the candidate praising Hitler. Milo says in an email that there was a 'mutual conclusion that I should step away,'" Sommer tweeted Sunday.

"Something to consider after Milo's firing from the Ye campaign: Milo has a penchant for collecting audio and other compromising material on his frenemies. He had a hard drive called 'The Vault' filled with the stuff, and was subpoenaed for it during a Charlottesville lawsuit," the journalist added in a follow-up tweet.

It's unclear who Yiannopoulos' second (deleted) Telegram message about the "potential new hire" was referring to. However, according to The Daily Beast, West reportedly just hired controversial YouTuber Nico Kenn De Balinthazy, better known as "Sneako," who is well-known for urging pedestrians to say the n-word in viral clips in return for a dollar.

In a Monday video, Sneako said, "I met Ye, and then I ended up working with Ye," before adding that the rapper was a "childhood hero." Sneako said that he would be working to "fight the new world order."

Yiannopoulos previously worked as an editor for the right-wing website Breitbart News. He started with the online publication in 2014 and resigned in 2017. His resignation came after controversial comments about pedophilia and his support for sexual relations with teenage boys. Yiannopoulos later apologized for "imprecise language" and said he had been a victim of pedophilia and did not support it.

He was permanently suspended from Twitter in July 2016 over inciting targeted abuse against Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones. Yiannopoulos described the social media platform's decision as "cowardly," adding that "Twitter has confirmed itself as a safe space for Muslim terrorists and Black Lives Matter extremists, but a no-go zone for conservatives."