Republican commentator Kimberly Klacik has filed a defamation lawsuit against conservative pundit Candace Owens, Fox 5 News reports.
The two conservative women have been feuding for the last couple of months.
It began on June 18 when Owens described President Joe Biden announcing Juneteenth as a federal holiday as a way for the Democrats to "repackage segregation."
“Juneteenth is soooo lame,” she tweeted. “Democrats really need to stop trying to repackage segregation. I’ll be celebrating July 4th and July 4th only. I’m American.”
After receiving backlash, Owens responded with another tweet.
"Sometimes I wonder when (if ever) Black America will wake up to the psychological warfare and perpetual brainwash to believe everything is racist,” she wrote. “Like when China starts talking about Black Lives Matter, how is it not obvious that we are political pawns?"
Klacik, a former Republican nominee for Maryland's 7th Congressional District, responded to a now-deleted tweet, according to reports by Newsweek.
"Believe it or not, many in 'Black America' are very aware the fight is classism rather [than] racism,” Klacik said. "Unfortunately, the loudest mouths with the largest platforms represent the majority. This might come as a shock to you because of your lack of engagement with Black people."
After arguing back and forth on social media, Owens claimed to have "incredible" information about Klacik that will "blow your minds."
She then released a 45-minute video on Instagram about Klacik, making several allegations about her past life before she entered politics.
Among the allegations, Owens revealed that Klacik was a former stripper in Baltimore, Maryland, and worked with a Democratic Party operative on her congressional campaign in 2020. Klacik admitted to both but she has denied Owens' claims that she purchased cocaine with campaign funds and essentially operated as a sex trafficker with her husband.
Appearing on The Armstrong Williams Show, Klacik responded to Owens' accusations.
"If [Owens] was the detective that she pretends to be, she would know that all of the clubs in Baltimore City were shut down due to the pandemic in Baltimore," Klacik said. "So there was no possible way anybody was partying in a club or able to launder money into a club that was completely closed."
She confirmed that she used to work as a stripper in Baltimore and is not ashamed of her former occupation. She said she feels "bad for all those women that currently have that occupation that probably feel attacked right now," because of Owen’s comments.
Klacik also admitted to hiring a Democrat to work on her campaign.
"You hire a Democrat that has the voter information that allows you to see which Independents and moderate Democrats are good to target to hopefully go and knock doors, phone calls, to persuade for their vote […] you would have to reach the Democrats in order to flip this district," she argued.
The defamation lawsuit was filed in July, according to court records.
