CANDACE OWENS HAS TAKEN THE POLITICAL REBEL 'THING' TOO FAR, INTO THE UTTERLY REPUGNANT AND INDEFENSIBLE

The trouble with Candace

Candace Owens was my hero, then she descended into antisemitism. 

 

By Chloe Sparwath

 

JNS

Aug 28, 2024

 

 

Far-right political pundit Candace Owens was fired by The Daily Wire for her antisemitic rants

 

“Oh my gosh, that was Candace Owens!” I whisper-screamed to my friend as we walked through the crowded hotel lobby. We were at the Young Women’s Leadership Summit (YWLS) hosted by Turning Point USA.

My excitement quickly became horror when I heard a very familiar voice say, “You’re not a very good whisperer,” followed by a chuckle.

My cheeks must have been fire-engine red. Candace Owens had overheard me talking about Candace Owens. Candace Owens was on par with Taylor Swift in my eyes. Owens stopped to talk to me, gave me advice, told me that I was strong and we even took a selfie. The 2018 version of Chloe was elated. She met her hero and her hero was kind, inspiring and pumped up for an event about elevating young women. 

Flash forward to YWLS 2024, at which, a video appears to show, Owens singled out an intern from The Daily Wire (which had recently fired Owens) in front of an audience of hundreds of people. The power imbalance was glaringly obvious and disturbing. The public humiliation of an intern on stage in front of a crowd is unacceptable. Owens used to be my role model but “mean girl” behavior from an influential semi-celebrity is hardly worth emulating. It’s definitely not what women’s conferences are about. 

The incident took place after Owens made a disturbing string of anti-Jewish comments before and after the Israel-Hamas war broke out. When rapper Kanye West tweeted that he was “going death con 3 on Jewish people,” Owens defended him. She suggested that there was a “Jewish gang” in Hollywood that was after West. An “honest person,” she said, would not find West’s statement antisemitic. West has publicly praised Adolf Hitler. Does it get any more antisemitic?

On X, Candace “liked” a post accusing Rabbi Shmuley Boteach of being “drunk on Christian blood,” a nod to the age-old antisemitic blood libel.

On her Daily Wire show, Owens ranted about “this sort of DC Jew,” Jews who are “Marxists” that want to “victimize themselves.” 

In a strange attempt to justify her string of antisemitic ramblings, Owens explained: “I don’t accept Jewish Supremacy. … The Jewish community post-Oct. 7 has gotten a little snowflakey. … They’re just calling everything antisemitism.” 

Really, Candace? Jews are being oversensitive after the largest massacre of their people in a single day since the Holocaust?

Since she was fired by The Daily Wire, Owens’s favorite pastime seems to be Holocaust denial. On a recent episode of her podcast, Owens complained that Adolf Hitler is a taboo figure and people have “turned him into almost Lord Voldemort.” She went on to say that people exaggerate the horrors of the Holocaust and that German POWs suffered more than Hitler’s victims. Evidence of Josef Mengele’s tortuous medical experiments on human beings (including children and pregnant women), Owens said, is “bizarre propaganda.”

 

 

Josef Mengele conducted tortuous medical experiments on Jewish inmates, including children and pregnant women, at Auschwitz. Owens claims that is “bizarre propaganda.”

 

Owens recently had “feminist” and former Hill journalist Briahna Joy Gray—also fired for antisemitism after rolling her eyes while a Hamas hostage spoke about Hamas’s sex crimes—on her show. The two openly denied and downplayed Hamas’s barbaric sexual abuse of Israeli women on Oct. 7.

Just this week, Owens posted a video of herself claiming that Israel was founded to be a pedophile state and was started by the ancestors of Christian-murdering cultists. She finished the video with a “joke” about punching anyone who says Israel is an American ally in the face.

I have never been more disappointed by a celebrity than I am with Candace Owens. I don’t relish that. She used to be the reason that I, a College Republican at the University of Virginia, spoke up about my unpopular political views. She once stood up for her beliefs and didn’t care what anyone thought about her. I am a people-pleaser by nature and I learned many lessons from her. 

But Owens has taken the political rebel “thing” too far, into the utterly repugnant and indefensible. 

The right needs to take a good look in the mirror and make sure we are proud of who represents us. Many young conservatives think of themselves as the counterculture of our generation. But we need to remember that just because a person speaks at conservative conferences and shares controversial ideas, it does not mean the individual or idea has merit. 

Conservatives should continue to seek truth and speak up for freedom of speech. But we need to remember that a controversial opinion does not equate to a noble one. We can defend free speech without agreeing with that speech. We can be on the side of open-mindedness and kindness, civility and respect. 

So, young conservatives: Candace Owens is no longer “it.” There are plenty of conservative superstars out there to follow, learn from and support. Be selective.

There is a split in the conservative movement, with a sector of isolationists straying from the Republican Party’s traditional ironclad support for Israel. We must correct this course and support Israel unequivocally. There is a difference between “America first” and “America only.” Israel is one of our greatest allies and a strong Israel means a strong United States both economically and defensively. 

The world is an increasingly dangerous and hostile place. As America’s enemies like China, Russia and Iran grow stronger, our long-standing relationships with our allies are more vital to the survival of our nation than ever. Conservatives must continue to support Israel and be a friend to the Jewish people.