Fox News guest Candace Owens claims Meghan isn’t Black enough to be a victim of racism

Conservative commentator refers to duchess as ‘typical leftist narcissist’ in latest attack to air on network

During an appearance on Fox News, conservative activist Candace Owens said that Meghan Markle is not Black enough to have been a victim of racism.

In an interview on Sean Hannity’s show on Wednesday night, Ms Owens, who is Black, gave her opinion on a number of the talking points from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Ms Owens called Ms Markle a “typical leftist narcissist” and said that she had seen the “traditional” British royal family, and then decided “to call it racist”.

She also questioned Prince Harry’s statement that racism and bigotry in the British press towards Meghan had contributed to their decision to leave the UK for Canada before settling in California.

“You would not be able to discern just by looking at Meghan Markle that she’s Black,” Ms Owens said before pushing a similar line about the couple’s son, Archie.

“If you’ve seen a picture of Archie and you believe that he has suffered anti-Black racism then I’m a Nigerian prince and give me your credit card details. It’s so ridiculous,” Ms Owens told Mr Hannity.

The appearance by Ms Owens is the latest attack on Meghan and Harry to air on Fox News since the broadcast of the couple’s interview with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday night.

In addition to Sean Hannity, hosts Tucker Carlson, Greg Gutfeld, Maria Bartiromo and Ainsely Earnhardt have all scoffed at the duchess’ claims.

On his Tuesday night show, Mr Carlson also called Ms Markle a narcissist and a “manipulative opportunist” — he ignored her statements about racism and mental health.

In her interview with Oprah, Ms Markle had talked about her suffering from suicidal thoughts, her unfair treatment in the press, and that a member of the royal family had expressed concern about the possible darkness of her son’s skin.

In a tweet on 8 March, Ms Owens made similar accusations to those she made on Fox News: “Meghan Markle is less than 25% black. Her son is less than 12% black,” she wrote.

“Her and Harry implying that everything that happened to them is because of her blackness is a sickening level of scapegoating.”

Given Ms Markle’s ancestry — her father is of northwest European heritage, and her mother is descended from slaves in Georgia — it was unclear how Ms Owen arrived at these percentages.

People were quick to point out the discrepancy on Twitter, accusing her of making up rules to prop up her attack on the couple.

“With racism you only need 1%” one person tweeted.

“I find it so interesting how you repeatedly turn yourself inside out insulting, blaming, scapegoating, and ridiculing other black women. Way to have a sister’s back,” wrote another Twitter user.

Ms Owens also defended Piers Morgan who quit Good Morning Britain on Tuesday after being dressed down on air by a co-presenter about his comments regarding Ms Markle’s discussion of her mental health.

More than 41,000 complaints were filed by members of the public regarding Mr Morgan, and Ms Markle added a personal complaint.

Ms Owens said Mr Morgan was “calling her [Ms Markle] out for the blatant lies that she’s told”.

“For her to put in this phone call to have his voice silenced because she is unhappy with the press about her … she’s a typical leftist narcissist,” she said.

Ms Owens added: “Why aren’t we allowed to have an opinion anymore without people telling us, ‘Your opinion is no longer safe’? It’s dangerous.”