Candace Owens has slammed former president Barack Obama over his birthday celebrations, and urged Americans to stop listening to “elitist snobs” about measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
The conservative political commentator railed against the former president’s decision to host a party on Martha’s Vineyard over the weekend to mark his 60th birthday.
“If you have a little bit of dose of sophistication, you can do whatever you want in this country,” she said during an appearance on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.
“You don’t have to mask. You can see your relatives. It’s funny, it’s laughable and it’s also just so frustrating and people are right to be angry.”
Obama sparked anger after details of the lavish birthday bash were reported. His office later announced the event was going to be scaled back to just family and close friends due to a surge in coronavirus infections blamed on the Delta variant.
But Owens claimed going ahead with the event was “adding insult to injury” to Americans.
She said: “This is a story of the haves and the have-nots, the haves are laughing at the have-nots, as they continue to make these Simon Says rules that everybody has to follow, absent any meaningful scientific dialogue or discussion, it’s just trust the science blanket. Don’t question it or you’re a horrible backwards selfish human being.”
Owens said Americans have endured almost two years of restrictions, where they were unable to see their loved ones or attend important events.
She said: “People looked at people and said, are you a person that wants to go see your loved one who passed away? Do you want to attend their funeral? You’re a selfish human being. Do you want to watch your daughter get married? You’re a selfish human being if you don’t shut this down. Were you, like I was, pregnant during lockdown? Did you want your husband to attend your first ultrasound. You’re a selfish backwards, human being.”
She added: “We heard this over and over again, being reinforced by the academia, by the media, by the elitist snobs who genuinely look over their balcony, and they say whatever they want because they don’t live like us, Tucker.”
Owens went on to say it was time for “civil disobedience.”
She clarified: “When I say civil disobedience, I mean live your life. Yeah, go to the birthday party. Have your husband where you want him to be. Have your daughter’s wedding, stop listening to these people who don’t care about you, who tell you you need to wear a mask on the plane, while they fly around private and don’t know what it’s like to have to go through an airport and be treated like you’re a diseased individual.”
Her recent comments came after she revealed she was “proud” not to be vaccinated against COVID-19, despite experts warning that the Delta variant is causing more serious illness among the unvaccinated.
President Joe Biden has blamed vaccine hesitancy on the spread of misinformation through social media platforms, often through right-wing accounts.
Media watchdogs and experts have accused conservative media networks, among them Fox News, of promoting “anti-vaccine propaganda” to their audiences.
Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images