It was a long time coming
Conservative firebrand and podcaster Candace Owens is officially out at The Daily Wire. While rumors have circulated for weeks about Candace ‘Owens’ relationship with the conservative media company, CEO Jeremy Boreing confirmed Owens’ separation from The Daily Wire in a post on social media, which Owens herself confirmed. While there has been much speculation about what prompted the Daily Wire to terminate its contract with Owens, one thing is certain: it is about time.
My Frustrations with Candace Owens
For those familiar with my commentary on Owens, it will come as no surprise that I am not heartbroken by her departure. She has a long-standing history of repeating absurd conspiracies and repeating racist talking points. In my first response video to Owens, I detailed how she misrepresented and lied about Columbus’ treatment of the Taino people, whom he enslaved, but such misrepresentation was far from unexpected from Owens.
What I didn’t expect was her devolution into outright antisemitism.
While many a progressive has pointed to her comments about Adolf Hitler as an example of antisemitism, those comments came with some element of plausible deniability, and Owens has claimed that critical context is missing. However, it is unclear what context justifies the statement, “If Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well — OK, fine,” as acceptable.
Owens Falling to Antisemitic Bigotry
What changed with Owens and her commentary was a devolution into overt accusations against Jewish people as a whole and a weak defense of antisemites like Kanye West, who previously said that he would go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” Owens also went so far as to claim that “political Jews” were creating more antisemitism by hiding behind the guise of antisemitism to cover up their alleged misconduct. Owens had previously also claimed that a gang of Jewish people were terrorizing Hollywood, a long-standing bigoted conspiracy theory.
While I am not surprised that Owens has taken her conspiracy theories far beyond the realm of mere curiosity, what has surprised me is how far she has gone to feud with her boss and to ignore how overt bigotry not only in her language but also in the language of the people she defends.
In my response video to her and Lauren Chen, I noted that Owens readily hid the nature of Kanye West’s comments about Jewish people in which I stated, “…during her coverage of Kanye’s interview with Tucker Carlson, she deceptively framed Kanye’s commentary on the Kushners as being merely an example of him being harmed by his friends and not as part of a larger pattern of antisemitism…What she did not mention in her review of West’s comments on Tucker Carlson is that West explicitly connected wealth to Jewishness, something that Carlson actively omitted from his work. Granted, this was released a few days after her video, but Owens never updated her viewers about that information once it was revealed to the public, demonstrating that she was never truly interested in informing her audience.”
Such obfuscation suggests that Owens either doesn’t understand the nature of antisemitism as a historical phenomenon or is actively seeking to avoid addressing it at all. Owens has a lot of bigoted moments, some of which I went over in this article, but it is especially damning that she has gone out of her way to go after Jewish people at a time when Jewish people are facing increasing bigotry.
Rebuffing Potential Defenses of Owens
Owens’ defenders will likely argue that she is merely being critical of Israel, and that alone isn’t antisemitic. They would be correct on that if she only went after Israeli actions relating to the Israel-Hamas war and the alleged war crimes that the Israeli government has committed against Palestinian civilians.
Some will remember that I interviewed and worked for a congressional candidate who is intensely critical of the Israeli government and its role in the ongoing conflict in Gaza, but there is a difference between criticizing Israel’s actions and outright attacking all Jewish people and spreading conspiracy theories about said people. Owens has crossed beyond mere criticism. Nothing about what Israel is doing now justifies bigotry against Jewish people. Nor does it justify Islamophobia. Owens fails to address that reality to a spectacular degree.
While I don’t expect Candace Owens to go away anytime soon and am disappointed that her bigoted views could spread for so long, I am pleased to see that The Daily Wire got something right. Owens goes far beyond reasoned political discourse and veers into the absurd and prejudicial. She should have been removed from The Daily Wire long ago.
If you like my work and would like to support me, you can find the donation site through my Kofi account. I really appreciate it.
References
(1) PragerU Doesn’t Understand Slavery Ft Candace Owens – YouTube. 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXRa8LplwR4 (March 22, 2024).
Candace Owens [@RealCandaceO]. 2024a. “Awaken World, to the Monsters Who Have Caused Immense Suffering to Others via Slander, Threats, and Coercion. Rabbi Shmuley Is One of These Monsters and Any Person Who Defends Him or His Hag Daughter Is Immediately Suspicious.” Twitter. https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1765906453150191922 (March 22, 2024).
Candace Owens [@RealCandaceO]. 2024b. “The Rumors Are True— I Am Finally Free. If You Would like to Support My Work, You Can Head to Http://CandaceOwens.Com Where You Will Be Directed to My Locals Page. Or, You Can Give a Gift at Http://Gocandace.Com There Will Be Many Announcements in the Weeks to Come. 🇺🇸✝️.” Twitter. https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1771175990451958250 (March 22, 2024).
Contreras, Russell. 2024. “Antisemitic Incidents in U.S. Surged 360% after Hamas Attack: ADL.” Axios. https://www.axios.com/2024/01/10/antisemitic-incidents-hamas-israel-attack-2023-adl (March 22, 2024).
Cowardly Prejudice: Candace Owens and Lauren Chen’s Pathetic Defense of Kanye West. 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7r1MRy_pu4 (March 22, 2024).
Giatti, Ian M. 2024. “Rabbi Slams Candace Owens for Remark on Jewish ‘gangs’ Controlling Hollywood.” https://www.christianpost.com/news/rabbi-slams-candace-owens-for-remark-on-jewish-gangs.html (March 22, 2024).
Griffing, Alex. 2024a. “Candace Owens Accuses ‘Political Jews’ of Fueling Anti-Semitism: ‘Vile, Dishonest, Manipulative People.’” Mediaite. https://www.mediaite.com/politics/candace-owens-accuses-political-jews-of-fueling-anti-semitism-vile-dishonest-manipulative-people/ (March 22, 2024).
Griffing, Alex. 2024b. “Candace Owens Goes on Screed About ‘Sinister’ ‘Ring’ of Jews.” Mediaite. https://www.mediaite.com/news/candace-owens-goes-on-bizarre-screed-about-ring-of-quite-sinister-jews-in-hollywood/ (March 22, 2024).
Interview with Congressional Candidate Qasim Rashid #politics #news #election. 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEq5tnz2114 (March 22, 2024).
Jeremy Boreing [@JeremyDBoreing]. 2024. “Daily Wire and Candace Owens Have Ended Their Relationship.” Twitter. https://twitter.com/JeremyDBoreing/status/1771165501160411423 (March 22, 2024).
Kelly, Conor. 2023. “The Israel-Hamas War Doesn’t Justify Islamophobia or Antisemitism: Act Like It.” The Progressive American. https://progressiveamerican322183019.wordpress.com/2023/12/27/the-israel-hamas-war-doesnt-justify-islamophobia-or-antisemitism-act-like-it/ (March 22, 2024).
Schorr, Isaac. 2024a. “Candace Owens Endorses Wild, Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theory About Jews Being ‘Drunk on Christian Blood.’” Mediaite. https://www.mediaite.com/media/candace-owens-endorses-wild-anti-semitic-conspiracy-theory-about-jews-being-drunk-on-christian-blood/ (March 22, 2024).
Schorr, Isaac. 2024b. “How Long Will The Daily Wire Stand By Candace Owens?” Mediaite. https://www.mediaite.com/opinion/how-long-will-the-daily-wire-stand-by-candace-owens/ (March 22, 2024).
Sommer, Will. 2024. “Candace Owens Departs Ben Shapiro’s Website after Antisemitic Commentary.” Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/03/22/candace-owens-antisemitism-daily-wire-shapiro/ (March 22, 2024).
Staff, Toi. “Kanye West Says He’ll Go to ‘Death Con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE’ after Instagram Ban.” https://www.timesofisrael.com/kanye-west-says-hell-go-to-death-con-3-on-jewish-people-after-instagram-ban/ (March 22, 2024).
Leave a Reply