Candance Owens, the Out-of-Control Agitator

The recent interview by Tucker Carlson with Nick Fuentes has become one of the most controversial media episodes of the year, with numerous vituperations against Israel and Jews, and intense debate within the Republican Party and in different sectors of the right. Now, Carlson and Fuentes aren't the only right-wing figures to launch attacks against Israel and the Jewish community from their massive platforms.

For example, noted agitator Candace Owens has been stepping up her statements against Israel in the wake of October 7 and the ensuing war in Gaza. In fact, she has gone even further in her statements by suggesting that the murder of conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA (TPUSA), Charlie Kirk, was a sort of "insider job" allegedly involving Israel and President Trump's federal government.

The conspiracy theories have become the centerpiece of Owens' media strategy, with narratives ranging from personal attacks on Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, to the aforementioned antisemitic accusations linked to Kirk's murder, which have resulted in legal complaints and heavy criticism within the MAGA movement itself, where she is generating more and more rejection as a public figure. 

"The Macrons paid for my assassination"

Owens has even dared to link her obsession with the first lady of France and Kirk's death by alleging that Brigitte Macron might have ordered the conservative activist's murder to protect herself and her ties to MK Ultra.

Completely unleashed, Owens claimed on Saturday that a French government official had informed her that Emmanuel Macron and his wife had ordered her assassination. According to the commentator, the operation would be led by a team of the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN), with the participation of an Israeli member.

"In short, this person claims that the Macrons have executed upon and paid for my assassination," she wrote in X.

In addition, according to Owens, the French official reportedly told her that Charlie Kirk's killer trained with the 13th brigade of the French Legion, in which several states participated.

"I do not know who in the American government can be trusted, since this source claims our leaders are aware," she added.

'Antisemite of the Year'

Like Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens has made points against pro-Israel conservative sectors, claiming that Israel is not an ally of the U.S. and that the country is "occupied" by the Jewish state, which has earned her numerous enemies in the right-wing camp itself.

How things have changed. Just a couple of years ago Owens was a leading figure at The Daily Wire, one of the benchmarks of conservative journalism, but left in early 2024 after disputes with its founder, Ben Shapiro, over her openly anti-Israel stance on the Gaza war.

Months before leaving the media outlet, Shapiro had already criticized Owens for her "shameful" rhetoric and "false sophistication" in her arguments. 

Recently, the anti-Israel agitator stated on her podcast, "There's a lot behind my refusal, my absolute refusal, to bend the knee to Israel."

"There's too much that I've learned about their history, about what was done to Christians, which they're alleging now is blood libel," she added.

In December, the group StopAntisemitism named Owens 'Antisemite of the Year.' "From defending Hitler’s actions in Germany and mocking Jewish fears over Kanye West’s antisemitic tweets, to claiming Israel forces Muslims into segregated quarters and insinuating Hollywood is run by sinister Jewish gangs, Owens has been rightfully crowned 2024’s Antisemite of the Year," the organization announced.

Owens, who thanked StopAntisemitism for "giving us something to laugh about," was followed in that ranking of antisemites by bigot Greta Thunberg, who seems to have traded environmentalism for anti-Israel agitation.

"If anything happens to me, blame the Zionists"

Following the murder of her former colleague Charlie Kirk, Owens redoubled her criticism of Israel by featuring on her show an investigation accusing the Jewish state of being behind the young conservative's death.

In November 2017, Owens joined Turning Point USA as director of urban engagement under Kirk himself, and later became director of communications.

Just a few days ago, Owens stated that 12 cell phones linked to Israel were detected at Utah Valley University on the day of Kirk's murder.

Owens said that such a revelation had disturbed Kash Patel and the National Security Agency (NSA), which allegedly would have done everything possible to prevent the information from reaching the public.

In early October, Owens challenged the Turning Point USA board to release a statement on Kirk's stance on Israel.

"About 48 hours before Charlie Kirk died, Charlie informed people at Turning Point, as well as Jewish donors and a rabbi that he had no choice but to abandon the pro-Israel cause," she asserted, without providing any proof. A week later, Owens showed some text messages on her show that were allegedly written by the conservative activist, which she used to back up her assertions.

According to this avowed enemy of Israel, Kirk wanted to "abandon the pro-Israel cause outright" because he "refused to be bullied anymore by Jewish donors."

In August last year, after insinuating that Israel was behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Owens went so far as to say that if anything happened to her, society should charge the Zionists. "I just want to be clear: anything happens to me, blame the Zionists, like 1,000%, blame the Zionists," she proclaimed.

"I am just like so over the idea that Israel is our ally and friend. If another person says that stupid statement. I’m going to personally punch you in the face," she said, during one of her tirades against Israel.

With Trump, from love to hate

In April 2018, President Trump called into the Fox and Friends show and said Owens was "the hottest thing out there right now." And in June of that same year he held a twenty-minute meeting with her at the White House, in which he remarked on the "big impact" she was having on political life: "so good for our Country!" he wrote in a tweet.

Owens recently decided to lash out at the Trump administration, suggesting that Charlie Kirk's murder was a "federal conspiracy." In late October, she even hinted that the president and his close circle might be involved.

"He gave so much of his life to Trump and to politics, and they were just like NOPE. That’s it," she stated darkly.

"So here’s a holiday. What is with them giving them a holiday after they kill them? As soon as they give you a holiday, they definitely killed you. There’s no question - they killed you," she added.

According to the podcaster, the recognition of a "National Charlie Kirk Remembrance Day" proves that the conservative broadcaster is being treated as a political martyr, similar to Martin Luther King Jr. Owens has linked this commemoration to her conspiracy theories, suggesting that federal agencies or even Trump allies could be behind the crime.

Distorting the Holocaust

In December, Candace Owens was interviewed by Piers Morgan for a program in which the Gaza-Israel conflict was a central topic.

Owens stated that Netanyahu had "genocidal ambitions" and even suggested that he allowed the terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas to take place on October 7, 2023 to justify a military campaign in Gaza.

Owens described the Israeli offensive in Gaza as a "Holocaust against Palestinian children and women," language that shocked the noted British journalist, also highly critical of Israel, and provoked immediate backlash against her.