A heated exchange between “WAP” rapper Cardi B and conservative political activist Candace Owens unfolded online Sunday after the 27-year-old artist responded to Owens’ criticism of a recent sit-down interview with Joe Biden. In the Elle Magazine interview with Biden, the two addressed the coronavirus, voting rights, and voter suppression ahead of November’s presidential election.
In an interview with conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro, Owens had plenty to say about Cardi’s conversation with Biden, calling the rapper “illiterate,” accusing her music of perpetuating violent stereotypes, and claiming that the interview was an insult to all Black people.
“This would be akin to Donald Trump saying, ‘I’m going to give no interviews, but he came up and he decided to give an interview to Justin Bieber…’ it would be absurd,” she said. “You look at Cardi B’s Instagram and she has millions of followers and you think, ‘OK, this is an illiterate person and if I appeal to this illiterate person and she does “okurrr” like she literally did in the middle of this interview, they think she’s cool, she’s hip. Just by sitting here and taking this interview, they will vote for me.’ It’s basically saying Black people, ‘You are stupid, you are dumb and you’re so foolish…'”
Owens went live on Instagram on Sunday with another rant targeted at Cardi B. In the video, she insinuated that her own interview with Shapiro was not meant to be an attack on the rapper and that Cardi is “uneducated” on politics. She also said, “You continually keep saying you have a No. 1 song, it means shit. Nobody cares about a song about your wet ass pussy.”
Following Owens’ live video, Cardi B responded by posting a six-minute clip to her Instagram expressing various grievances, including the Blackout author’s continued justifications of the death of George Floyd and her adamant cosigns of Trump.
In a later post with a clip of Brown’s live video, Cardi doubled down saying, “The type of people that drag me all day online all cause I hate Trump. This girl tho she makes me sad. She have a identity issue. She hates her own kind.”
Cardi additionally referenced a 2018 tweet made by Owens which pins the rapper as a potential leader for “the Black revolution for free thought.” In the tweet, Owens wrote, “been watching her since Love & Hip Hop. She doesn’t pay attention to politics but if she did she would be a Kanye mindset. She believes in freedom.”
Cardi posted a screenshot of the tweet on Instagram acknowledging the fact that Owens had long ago recognized her worth as a viable engine for establishing change. In the caption, she wrote, “… you been knew the power and potential that I have. I will never let ya silence my voice cause you threatened by the power that I have for a new beginning and change! People will call you dumb, stupid, but deep down inside they know you a fuckin’ force.”
“I have a huge platform and I can make millions go vote…” Cardi wrote in a later tweet. She was replying to Owens who disregarded a recent incident when the rapper’s 24-year-old sister, Hennessy Carolina, was harassed by Trump supporters at a beach in the Hamptons. Cardi also pointed to Owens’ hypocrisy and encouraged her fans to continue streaming “WAP” in a series of tweets, writing that despite her advocacy for Trump, Owens was not invited to speak or appear at the Republic National Convention last month.