Andrew Schulz Needs Free Speech Primer
Rebel comic blasts Daily Wire for censoring Candace Owens (but there's a catch)
Influencers are taking sides in the Ben Shapiro/Candace Owens war.
Owens got the heave-ho from The Daily Wire last month, a site co-founded by Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing. Many assumed her harsh rhetoric regarding the current Israel/Hamas war may be to blame, but neither side has shared specifics on the termination.
Now, the war of words between the two has gone nuclear.
Candace, I can see why you'd want to hide behind a moderator — particularly one who said we should rename our company the "Daily Jewish Wire" just yesterday.
No.
One on one. Monday at 5 PM.
We can sit down and have a healthy debate like adults, and we'll live-stream it on X… https://t.co/l2UFEB7a0f
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) April 5, 2024
Note: This reporter is a contributor to The Daily Wire.
The feud has drawn major attention on Twitter and elsewhere. Right-leaning Americans are particularly engrossed in the saga, given the conservative gravitas on both sides.
One particular voice is worth noting.
Comedian Andrew Schulz, who ended a deal with a major streaming platform to preserve his comedic voice, weighed in on the matter. Schulz isn’t a conservative. He’s still open-minded on most issues and understands why the woke’s war on free speech hurts us all.
And, of course, he’s a very funny fellow.
That’s why it’s a shame Schulz’s hot take on Shapiro v. Owens came up short. Very short.
Schulz addressed the matter on his “Flagrant” podcast, coming down hard on Team Shapiro.
“Before you have a media platform, it’s very easy to critique media,” the comic began, referencing notoriously liberal outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post. “You’re censoring free speech. You’re for censorship.”
He recalled Shapiro’s recent defense of Owens’ dismissal and dubbed it disingenuous.
“In this argument, he makes the case for censorship, but he calls it something else,” Schulz said, noting how Shapiro described The Daily Wire as accepting a window of ideas.
“Anything outside of that window is fireable. That’s censorship,” Schulz said.
Part of that is accurate.
The Daily Wire is a transparently conservative media outlet. The site offers a variety of views on multiple topics, but they generally fall under a right-of-center perspective.
Site contributors like Andrew Klavan routinely debate Shapiro on mic and behind the scenes, for example, and the two remain both friendly and professional.
A news publisher has no duty to keep an opinion columnist on staff if her or she shares views that are dramatically opposed to the site’s mission statement. If a Nation columnist suddenly began penning pro-Trump articles, he or she may not be employed for long.
That’s not an attack on free speech.
If a mainstream news reporter uncovers a story that doesn’t fit the editor’s preferred narrative and it gets spiked, that’s troubling.
Owens isn’t a traditional reporter. She’s not regularly filing investigative news pieces. And, more importantly, her commentary has become increasingly unhinged.
Last year, she told Bill Maher she doesn’t believe man landed on the moon. When Maher called her out on the matter on his “Club Random” podcast, she spun before playing the victim.
More recently, she insisted that French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife Brigitte is a man.
“After looking into this, I would stake my entire professional reputation on the fact that Brigitte Macron is in fact a man,” she wrote on X, although she hasn’t produced credible evidence to support her theory.
The Washington Examiner called her out for the suggestion.
Owens went from a sophisticated political pundit to a baseless conspiracy gossiper, usually reserved for the newspapers people read in grocery store checkout lines.
Owens retweeted a post from Max Blumenthal that said: “White American Jews are living through a golden age of power, affluence and safety. Acceptance of this welcome reality threatens the entire Zionist enterprise, from lobby fronts like the ADL to Israel, because Zionism relies on Jewish insecurity to justify itself.”
She famously stood by her friend, Kanye West, after he dissolved into a Jew-hating frenzy.
…she defended Ye after he tweeted he was going to “go death con 3 on Jewish people.”
“If you are an honest person, you did not find this tweet antisemitic,” Owens wrote about Ye’s comment at the time.
RELATED: RAPAPORT SHREDS HOLLYWOOD FOR SILENCE ON HAMAS HOSTAGES
More recently, she dubbed Israel’s war against Hamas “genocide” and publicly attacked Shapiro after he condemned her Israel commentary. As part of their running feud, she suggested an antisemitic trope while blasting Shapiro.
“You cannot serve both God and money.”
How many employees can do that without risking their job status?
There’s even more.
Her brand of “just asking questions” rhetoric is often flat-out ugly.
In all communities there are gangs. In the black community we’ve got the Bloods, we’ve got the Crips. Well, imagine if the Bloods and the Crips were doing horrific things, murdering people, controlling people with blackmail, and then every time a person spoke out about it, the Bloods and the Crips would call those people racist, would get the media to say those people were racist. . . . What if that is what is happening right now in Hollywood if there is just a very small ring of specific people who are using the fact that they are Jewish to shield themselves from any criticism. It’s food for thought, right? . . . There are enough people that are speaking out about a ring in Hollywood, also a ring potentially in D.C., that we should start to ask those questions. . . . All Americans should want answers because this appears to be something that is quite sinister.
Columnist Christine Rosen had more to say on Owens’ recent opinions.
When Dennis Prager (for whom Owens once briefly worked) gently chastised her for defending West’s anti-Semitic statements, Owens used her podcast as a venue to attack Prager, who is Jewish. As she told the New Yorker, she called and yelled at him, saying, “I’m not playing this game with the Jewish community again.”
Here’s guessing Schulz doesn’t know the full story behind the Shapiro/Owens feud. He’s a comedian, not a scholar. He’s still spitting out hot takes, left and right. That’s what many people do on social media and podcasts.
It’s often better to stick to subjects you know well, although many are guilty of pushing past those reasonable limits in our digital age.
The bigger question remains:
Would Schulz still feel Shapiro betrayed his free speech beliefs if he knew all of the above?
candace might (still?) be a black nationalist? at heart and they wont accept the equally beat upon jews as their “equals” as victims and the jealousy that ensues as the j00ws have trounced them in the intelligence/educational path allllll w/o the help of any affirmative action
I have taken Toto to task a few times, however this article seems to be pretty straight forward. Candace Owens was not silenced, she was not censored, she was not prosecuted for her comments. A business rightfully dismissed an employee at odds with the mission statement of the business. Keith Diggs and Ihaterinoscum lashed out at Shapiro and Toto, but neither of them presents any argument, evidence, or fact to substantiate their bigotry. Kudos to Shapiro and Toto.
Owens early on was too good to be true. Now her outrageous true colors are out there for everyone to see.
Candace Owens is not a “talentless hack,” plus, she never actually told Bill Maher she believed the moon landing was a hoax, she responded by saying that Bill wanted to play checkers when they should be playing chess (so to speak). As to the firing, if it was over something that was said, it’s a stronger decision to confront someone with better speech than to fire them, that’s my opinion.
That said, why Owens (or anyone for any reason) would be standing between terrorists Hamas and rightfully angry Jews following the barbarism on Oct 7th (particularly when Hamas still has hostages) utterly mystifies me, I don’t get it.
Bottom Line: I have immense respect for both Shapiro and Owens and would LOVE to see a vigorous debate between the two!
Peace.
Watch the Owens/Maher interview about the moon landing again … it’s pretty tough to hear. And I’d love to see that debate, too. More voices, not less as Andrew Breitbart famously said. Thanks for your thoughts!
I think that it is entirely unfair to fail to notice that, under the guise of squashing “known anti-Semitic tropes”, many potentially fair critiques are silenced. Do not misunderstand, I support Israel’s right to defend itself against the rabid mongrels that keep attacking it. But, if we are being HONEST, the ADL and other Jewish orgs have been silencing people for years, and were the loudest voices for censorship and cancellation in the past few years (rightly or not). When the campus nonsense went public after 10/7, many on the right who were not Jewish watched in mystery and wonder as otherwise-conservatives, who just weeks before had been pro free-speech no matter the cost, suddenly started shouting for cancelling and censorship of all these anti-jewish arguments. For free speech to work, you have to win arguments with better points and evidence… not censorship.
The free speech conversation when it comes to the last few months has been challenging. You shouldn’t be denied the right to say awful, antisemitic things on campus, but if someone said something similar about, say, black students they may run afoul of campus rules. How is this different? The ADL also deserves serious scrutiny, and they no longer have the moral standing they once did.
Funny how those who scream the loudest that “The Constitution is not a suicide pact!” rip Ben Shapiro a new one for firing someone who has devolved or perhaps has revealed herself to be a bust out Jew-hater. As a reminder, the Daily Wire is to the best of my knowledge a privately owned company, not a public forum/free for all. Ben Shapiro et al have the right to hire and fire as they see fit. If it is a publicly traded company, then the majority shareholder(s) have the fiduciary responsibility to the stockholders to eliminate anyone or anything that has an adverse effect on the value of said company.
In any case, considering places like Google and Facebook – at the behest of the current DC junta is intentionally silencing any voices of opposition, I find the “outrage” over this quite chutzpocritical.
We ALL should be focusing our energy and ire on social media giants silencing speech … no doubt!
Ben Shapiro is a FREE SPEECH HYPOCRITE and you wrote this BILGE because they pay you.
Look at this fake-Christian RINO clown christian toto pretending that “ben shapiro is the true conservative here” lol. ben shapiro is a israel-first RINO anti-Christian pun. And christian toto was probably paid by shapiro to write this article. Also, Andrew Schultz and Candace Owens are a million times more conservative than toto and shapiro put together.
Just rename the daily wire “the daily Jewish wire.”
Owens is a talentless hack, and always has been. But, and here’s the key, she is still able to push her talentless hackiness. Just not on Shaprio’s or Boreing’s dime.
I transparently shared that I am paid to write one story per week for The Daily Wire. I was not paid for this article.
You did admit that and that was commendable. However as a “christian” you are not supposed to BE “yoked’ together with Christ deniers (Unbelievers) which is what Jewish people CURRENTLY are. They aren’t your friends OR junior christians who haven’t “been learnt” yet or anything of the sort, they are the enemies of Jesus Christ just as Muslims are, just as atheists are.
2 Corinthians 6:14
14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
In fact it is your very adherence to false Christian doctrine that does not baptize properly (1/2 of new birth , John 3:3-8) nor does it receive the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:4), that is DELAYING THE SALVATION OF THOSE VERY JEWS!
See, Paul linked the “blindness ” that GOD has placed over Jews to the “Grafting In ” Romans 11, of the gentiles and that blindness will continue according to Paul , until the LAST GENTILE THAT IS TO BE SAVED BIBLICALLY HAS DONE SO , i.e water baptized in Jesus’ name (Acts 2:38) and filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:4,) See Romans 10:1-11:26 . But here’s the conclusion which shows that your false doctrine is the HOLD UP!
Romans 11:25-26 King James Version
25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
When you figure out how some GUY ON THE “INTERNETS” can know with surety that you were baptized in the FALSE BAPTISM of the Catholic Church or one of it’s offshoots using the TITLES “FATHER, SON AND HOLY GHOST” as if they were names WHEN THEY ARE NOT, you’ll be on to something.
“Christians” who are NOT baptized properly IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST (Acts 2:38, Acts 4:12, Acts 10:44-48, Acts 19:1-6, Acts 8:15-17) which is the ONE BAPTISM (Ephesians 4:5) that exists in the Christian church, are most likely to be CHRINOS it’s literally the reason we have Gay Marriage and trans kids. Liberals have been immoral since biblical days when they called themselves “Hedonists” they have wanted to groom kids and have same sex whatever since MOSES came down with the tablets and tripped over an orgy at the Golden Calf.
The only thing that changed were “DENOMINATIONS” of so called Christianity which DID NOT REMAIN IN THE ONE FAITH PAUL WROTE ABOUT HERE, Ephesians 4:5 One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. Note: If all “denominations” taught EXACTLY what the Apostles taught AS IT RELATES TO SALVATION, i.e YOU MUST BE WATER BAPTIZED IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST (Acts 2:38, Acts 4:12), and you must get on your knees and REPENT OF YOUR SINS TO A SUFFICIENT DEGREE TO CAUSE THE HOLY GHOST TO SPEAK THROUGH YOU IN LANGUAGES YOU NEVER LEARNED like this Acts 2:4, there would be no problem with “denominations”. BUT THEY DON’T . They all teach different CRAP as if THEY could interpret what CHRIST SAID TO HIS APOSTLES BETTER THAN THE APOSTLES THEMSELVES COULD, even though the Bible shows GOD giving them the Holy Ghost (Acts 2;4) and SPECIFICALLY AND PERSONALLY adding “souls ” to the Church that Peter just started by BAPTIZING OVER 3 THOUSAND PEOPLE IN JESUS’ NAME, Acts 2:47.
BUT THEY HAVE TORN DOWN AND TAKEN AWAY FROM THE TWO AREAS THAT JESUS SAID CONSTITUTE YOUR SALVATION! BEING BORN AGAIN! And what that actually MEANS!!! Pro Tip: It meant being FULLY IMMERSED IN WATER (not sprinkled) in the name of Jesus Christ which is being “BORN OF THE WATER” spoken of in John 3:3-8
Acts 2:38 King James Version
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
And a Christian in the BIBLE had to receive the indwelling of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of them speaking in tongues AS THE SPIRIT CAUSED THEM TO SPEAK,
Acts 2:4 King James Version
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
See Acts 10:44-48, Acts 19:1-6.
THIS ^^^^^ IS THE “BORN OF THE SPIRIT” part of the new birth again written here John 3:1-8, John 7:38-39, John 14:26.
FAILURE to do these two things LITERALLY MEANS THAT YOU HAVE NO ROOT OF FAITH IN YOU and that when PERSECUTION arises (You’re a racist! You’re a Sexist! You’re a homophobe! etc) these false christians will FADE LIKE A LEAF as they have done and ALLOW FILTH TO BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS and allow FILTHY PERVERTS TO TEACH IT! You folks are literally “Stony Place ” “Christians”!
Matthew 13:20-21
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
The VERY FALSE DOCTRINE that you embraced, which allowed you to be in “fellowship” with Christ deniers and imagine them as something that is somehow “not that’, has led to the destruction of America as we have known it.
What we have are a bunch of FAKE CHRISTIANS many of whom are nothing but RACISTS and other “ISTS” who have CLEARLY not been born again and who have NOT RECEIVED THAT WHICH CHRIST SAID YOU NEED TO TO BELONG TO HIM, the indwelling of the Spirit of Jesus Christ the Holy Ghost.
I know the false church confused you and told you the Holy Ghost or Spirit of God was “separate” from Jesus Christ but that’s just another LIE of the false church that FORBIDS MARRIAGE (priests, nuns) and which commands the abstention of MEATS ( no meat of Friday, “Lent” etc) 1 Timothy 4:1-4. Here is Paul telling you your fate should you never receive it, while using the terms interchangeably,
Romans 8:9
New International Version
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
I was saved biblically 12-27-92 between 2 and 4 pm. Anyone who can’t tell you this like this, isn’t saved. They may not remember the date, but they will certainly remember the DAY. Years ago I co-starred on L.A.X a short lived television series starring Blair Underwood , with whom I worked previously on “City Of Angels”. He had produced an independent film kind of based on the song “What if God Was One of Us”. In it he had a black homeless guy actually being the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ. I’m black btw. After the screening he asked me what I thought and I told him that anyone concerned with the “color” of Jesus Christ clearly had not yet been biblically saved by him. They were still in the “flesh” and not in the Spirit. Rom 8:9. He was of course “offended’ because he was at that time still “in the flesh” not “in the Spirit”.
Sorry not sorry for the long winded sermon that you didn’t ask for. But false doctrine, like cigarette smoking, is cancerous and has consequences. Repent , do this Acts 38 and I guarantee you that you will receive this, Acts 2:4, john 7:38-39. If you have any questions you can reach me on x @KeithDiamond994.