On Candace Owens, Israel, and the Jews
Although these days the majority of Jew-haters and Israel-haters are on the left, the left has no monopoly on it and there are some very vocal people on the right (or supposedly on the right) who share the sentiments and seem obsessed with expressing them. Anti-Semitism is an old hatred that springs from many sources and is a shape-shifter extraordinaire.
For example, there are the “influencers”:
Simon Plosker, editorial director at the HonestReporting media watchdog group, said that “when you look at the anti-Israel social media content of supposedly right-wing influencers like Jackson Hinkle or Candace Owens, there is barely any difference between them and the far left. And their antisemitism has become legitimized under the cover of hatred towards Israel.”
Candace Owens is one of the most flagrant of these, and I believe that she really does influence many people. Certainly on social media she has a large following. Owens is a convert to Catholicism, but it seems to be some strange sort variant that isn’t typical of the faith. European Christianity – Catholicism and some Protestant denominations such as Lutherans – has a lengthy and terrible history of Jew-hating and even violence against Jews, with the blood libel (Jews killing Christian children for ritual purposes) prominent in the propaganda. For many years, however, things have changed and Christians have become, for the most part, very supportive of Jews and Israel. Owens (and to a lesser extent, Tucker Carlson) goes against that trend and is one of the most virulent of online Jew-haters. She is also a conspiracy theorist extraordinaire.
It’s easy to find examples if you go to Owens’ X account, and although her statements have their own flavor some of them are indeed indistinguishable from those of the haters on the left. For example:
Gaza is a concentration camp where an open genocide is taking place. It has taken Goebbels levels of propaganda to try to convince the world it isn’t happening but it is. Just like Adolf Hitler, Bibi Netanyahu is an ethnocentric imperialist monster and we will make sure the world remembers what all of you supported when God has his vengeance.
Note the prediction of coming retribution by the deity towards Israel, combined with aspects of leftism (“imperialist monster”). Owens is – or was – a changer who started out on the left, but at the moment she seems to be in a world of her own, although she shares some of the “woke right’s” positions such as being anti-Ukraine.
In the same tweet I just quoted above, Owens goes on to add:
With enough time, I’m sure Hitler would have been very open to similarly running a sophisticated global blackmail ring with Jeffrey Epstein and perhaps would have even orchestrated the assasination [sic] of a sitting U.S. President or conducted a false flag or 2 to demand our allegiance.
Let me know how horrified you are by this comparison, and I’ll let you know how little we care. I will never stand with genocidal maniacs, who are committing an open holocaust and trying to usher in WW3, all while purporting to be eternal victims.
This is especially interesting in that it echoes Hitler’s political will, written shortly before his suicide. I’m referring in particular to this Jew-blaming from Hitler:
It is untrue that I or anyone else in Germany wanted war in 1939. It was wanted and provoked solely by international statesmen either of Jewish origin or working for Jewish interests. …
Centuries will go by but from the ruins of our towns and monuments, the hatred of those ultimately responsible will always grow anew against the people whom we have to thank for all this: international Jewry and its henchmen. …
I have left no one in doubt that if the people of Europe are once more treated as mere blocks of shares in the hands of these international money and finance conspirators, then the sole responsibility for the massacre must be borne by the true culprits: the Jews.
We also have this sort of thing from Owens:
Israel rapes and murders innocents, (including their own countrymen) steals land, and then uses sexual blackmail to force leaders of other counties to accept deals with the land they’ve stolen.
Synagogue of Satan.
Christ will win. https://t.co/ZxndRPlRy3— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) August 22, 2025
What’s going on? Aside from the age-old attraction of anti-Semitism? Well, Owens has her finger on something when in another tweet she says “victim fatigue” about Jews. Never mind that they have been victims for longer and worse than any other group on earth; the Candace Owens of the world are tired of hearing it. It’s “blame the victim” on steroids. In addition, there’s abysmal ignorance of history, which is rampant, plus a good dose of Holocaust denial.
But most of all it’s the thrill of belonging to a group that thinks it has the real scoop. Everyone else is lying, it is they who have sussed out the truth. The media lies. Teachers lie. Politicians lie. For Owens it also has a large dose of ancient Christian Jew-hatred which fortunately has gone out of style for most Christians, as well as her tendency to try to shock by espousing non-mainstream ideas.
I think this comment is insightful:
… [S]he takes contrarianism to its radical extreme. She takes it to its radical extreme because she was unnecessarily attacked when she had sensible positions. She’s rebelling. Keep in mind she was an Occupy Wall Street Socialist at one point.
And this one, which is why I pay attention to her:
As the article demonstrates, she’s been consumed by a whole variety of conspiracy theories, especially the anti-Semitic ones, but she hasn’t lost the charisma that made her eminently watchable. She has five million followers and over two million subscribers, who are, as one can see from the comments they leave, are completely on board with her beliefs.
Here’s her reaction to the church shooting in Minneapolis, which demonstrates some of her conspiracy theories:
The government is behind this. Each shooting is more traumatizing than the last because the goal is to scare us into compliance. It is the tried and true strategy of 9/11 and the Manson murders— both CIA operations.
Do not ever agree to hand over your 2nd amendment rights.— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) August 27, 2025
Lots of commenters there call her insane. I doubt it bothers her in the least. She’s found a niche, and for the moment she’s staying there and unfortunately has many followers. You may think I’m paying too much attention to her, but social media amplifies this sort of message immeasurably, and it is poisonous.
You are paying too much attention to her.
William M. Klein Jr.:
You’re not exactly making a case for what you assert.
It is dangerous to make light of the influence of such people.
Keep in mind she was an Occupy Wall Street Socialist at one point.
It’s this simple. Don’t overthink it. Such people are addle minded. They continue to be addle minded even if they change their political clothes.
Owens and the other nutters influence susceptible people , of which we have a multitude. That is where the problem lies, not with the “influencers” (a revolting term).
I agree with Neo that Owens’ millions of followers who swallow this bile are a problem.
I am aware, as any educated person should be, of the medieval Christian oppression and persecution of Jews. I am a Christian, but not a medieval one, and I am offended by Owens’ claiming the mantle of Christ while she maligns (to say the least) the people with whom God made his covenant and from whom Christ sprang. Claiming Christ while publishing lies about Jews violates the Commandment about bearing false witness and, in my opinion, is something for which she will have to give account when she meets God face to face.
Back around twenty years ago, a blogger calling herself Babba Zee made the following comment on Little Green Footballs back when it was an anti-jihad blog: “The far left, the far right, and radical Islam* all meet at Jew Hate Junction.”
*She might have just said Islam, I can’t remember.
WOW! Crazed if not exactly crazy.
Owens remunds me of a pirennial cadidate for President from my youth, Lynden Larouch.
Over years and then decades, Larouch had the incredible dustinction of keeping a fauthful following, despite assuming virtually every ideological flavor on the political map!
Of course, today the internet and podcasting keep a cycle of leader-follower contact goung to even greater extremes than back then.
“Victim fatigue” is real.
1. As the Holocaust fades into history, young people – and especially young Europeans – chafe at the perpetual martyr status of the Jews, and implicit blame for crimes they did not commit. This includes many conservatives who (correctly) view most Jews as left-leaning players and promoters of the intersectionality game.
2. The Arabs have successfully turned the tables in this game of victimhood. They have successfully branded the now-successful Jews as “white” and as “Western”. they have used liberals’ knee-jerk romanticism of other ethnicities to convince many that they are the more “authentic” residents of Israel… For many on the Left these 2 reactions are almost reflexive.
It is somewhat pathetic to watch liberal Jews shocked to find the progressive Golem they helped create turn on them, and their Marxist friends throw them under the bus for the latest, more fashionable cause.
In this week’s Makor Rishon weekly, there was an interview with Maurizio Molinari, the Italian-Jewish editor-in-chief of the La Republica newspaper. He was forced to resign due to attempts to present a balanced view of the October 7 massacre… and he describes the trauma of the largely assimilated Italian Jewish community, which has always leaned Left but now finds that the only pro-Israel voice condemning anti-Semitism is coming from the Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government.
This mirrors the experience of assimilated Jews throughout Europe and on US college campuses. Many are rediscovering their Jewish identity.
In the article, Molinari speaks plainly about how the check on open anti-Semitism afforded by the horrors of the Holocaust has “worn off”.
The ultra-secular Israeli Left – which always started the story of Israel not with the Bible, but with the Holocaust – is facing a similar crisis. This is the deeper reason why they have been so ineffective in the fight for public opinion, and why the leftist elitists in the army cannot bring themselves to win…. they have largely internalized the postmodern anti-Zionist opinion, and it limits their actions and perceptions.
While in the battlefield the fighting men are asking the chaplains for tzizit, yarmulkas, and tefillin in record numbers – because they understand this is an existential battle that must be fought at the level of faith and identity… it is clear that this war has already set off a return-to-Judaism movement broader and deeper than the cultural changes after the Yom Kippur War.
X = narcissism + confirmation bias. She’s found a way to monetize her need for attention.
Owens went off the deep end. Chicks on the Right regularly feature her craziness in their daily broadcast. I think most typical conservatives have discounted her. Same with Tucker. They may still have a following but are becoming more fringe. Of course, the left will point them out as typical of the conservatives.
@neo: But most of all it’s the thrill of belonging to a group that thinks it has the real scoop. Everyone else is lying, it is they who have sussed out the truth.
If I may mention once again my surfer buddy turned from Green Beret to the second-most powerful paramilitary KKK leader in the 80s….
My friend was, somewhat like myself, always on the lookout for the Hidden Knowledge which would reveal all. After he got out of the army, what he really wanted to do was sign on to an expedition to find the Sasquatch.
Unfortunately no one was hiring for such a position. He had also gotten caught up with some neo-Nazi military friends and been converted to that cause.
It was dramatic, exciting, to find oneself at the hinge of history, when the forces of Yahweh were in direct combat with the forces of Lucifer — i.e. Jews. blacks, browns, communists and the like.
Being Green Beret, my friend threw himself wholeheartedly into that war. He went to prison for ten years for conspiring to blow up the SPLC with a rocket launcher. Laws were passed because of my friend and his friends.
My friend came from a good Christian family, he had a high IQ, he was an Eagle Scout, he was adept socially, and still he got snookered into one of the worst conspiracy theories of all time.
Much of that IMO came from the Real Scoop mentality neo describes.
There’s a long history of this sort of thing, huxley — Gnostics, Cathars, and several examples in the modern era. Scientology, anyone? I have an inclination towards sympathy on blowing up the SPLC, just not for the reasons your friend thought he had. And of course I don’t really approve of blowing up anybody.
Kate:
Perhaps I should add that my friend was born-again and considered himself a true Christian.
He was the official chaplain for the White Patriot Party. He carried a Bible into all their demonstrations.
His mother didn’t know what to make of his conversion. She shrugged and said he seemed to be a better person for it.
Thats good crasey. Very good.
The CIA was behind Charlie Manson? I was a kid in LA when that was going on, and I read Bugliosi’s book on the subject. It’s pretty clear to me that Charlie’s motivation was women and drugs.
Re; My Green Beret, KKK friend
Years later, when I was in town, I rang the doorbell of his family home. His father answered the door. I asked to see Steve.
He said Steve wasn’t there. He had gotten into trouble. His father didn’t want to talk about it and closed the door.
Re: The CIA was behind Charlie Manson?
See Tom O’Neill’s “Chaos, Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties.” Or…
–Joe Rogan, “The Secret History of MK Ultra w/Tom O’Neill” (20:42)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA6eBKvph_Y
“The Arabs have successfully turned the tables in this game of victimhood. They have successfully branded the now-successful Jews as “white” and as “Western”. they have used liberals’ knee-jerk romanticism of other ethnicities to convince many that they are the more “authentic” residents of Israel… For many on the Left these 2 reactions are almost reflexive.” BenDavid
It is the Left rather than the Arabs (Islamists) who have successfully turned the tables in their game of victimhood. The Left is well aware of the nature of the Islamist. As predators always recognize another predator. It simply suits the Left’s oppressor/oppressed narrative to declare Israel and the Jew to be the oppressor. Partly out of a tactical appeasement designed to keep the Islamic crocodile focused upon cultural defenders of the West and strategically, to use Islamism in attacking nationalism, the foremost defenders of which are Israel and America. Islam’s most basic tenet is that the entire world must become Islamic. Since Islam’s theology demands the elimination of the Jews, necessary to disrupt God’s covenant with the Jewish people, Israel’s destruction is a theological imperative.
Today’s woke cultural Marxist ‘elite’ envision a one world government, managed by an unelected technocratic managerial class *, directed by a global elite**.
*the EU’s European Commission and the EU Council. The EU Parliament rubber stamps what the Commission and Council approve. They along with the UN are precursors to the formal world governmental structure the left envisions.
** W.E.F. membership, limited to those ‘elite’ with resources and/or influence
huxley, yes, there’s also a long history of people using the Bible, usually proof-texts out of context, to support their personal interpretations or obsessions. Some Southern slave-holders tried to make African slavery a biblical mandate. It wasn’t, and they were wrong. It’s sad to think of your friend’s descent into conspiracies and crime.
One of the places that really elevated Candace was PragerU and she was a particular favorite of Dennis Prager. Dennis had stated his disappointment with her turn before his accident last November took him out of the public eye I can only imagine the sadness he feels towards her as she goes further off the rails.
It’s sad to think of your friend’s descent into conspiracies and crime.
Kate:
I’ve spent a lot of time trying to understand what happened to my friend. I went very deep into white supremacy sites, digging up his story as best I could.
He wasn’t a loser. He wasn’t mentally ill. He wasn’t screwed-up from a screwed-up family. He was a strong, handsome, exuberant man. He would have been a winner wherever he went.
The Klansmen loved and respected him. One compared his charisma to Peter Fonda’s in “Easy Rider.” Steve was the guy who could smooth out the crazy conflicts between, say, the neo-nazi Christians and the neo-Nazi Odinists.
I last read that he ended up on a farm in North Georgia, living peacefully, forbidden by the terms of his release from associating with the white supremacy world.
It seems that humans can convince themselves of almost anything.
It breaks my heart.
It’s made me sad to hear of Owens’ decent into madness. I used to like hearing her thoughts on the left, since she came from there – the majority of my Internet content is political changers, thanks to neo – and on the right, since she’d had to think hard about why she was drawn to it.
there are some very vocal people on the right (or supposedly on the right) who share the sentiments and seem obsessed with expressing them.
==
Jew haters and Putin partisans. Seems to be a great deal of overlap between the two. Ann Althouse’s regulars include one of each, one of whom you used to see here. Mr. Sailer’s comboxes at Unz used to be infested with them, but they seem to have not followed him to Substack. Ron Unz seems to be circling the toilet bowl as he wades into old age. The content at Unz is so uniformly lunatic I cannot look at it anymore.
It is disappointing about Candace Owens. Five years ago during the 2020 ” Mostly peaceful” highly destructive BLM / Antifa riots she was an entertaining voice of sanity.
While many Christians, very likely most, support Israel and sympathize with Jews, the liberal denominations have official positions which are quite different.
It’s why the mainline churches are shrinking; decent people are tired of hearing this stuff. Congregations whose pastors don’t peddle it last longer.
But the denominations’ positions nave pretty much been in favor of any enemy of the west/USA. In the Eighties, favor the Sandinista dictatorship in Nicaragua, oppose the elected government of El Salvador, support the communist rebels trying to overthrow it.
The Soviets had never done anything wrong and if they had, it was our fault.
The issues are somewhat but not entirely dated, see Roy Beck, “On Thin Ice”.
I remember watching Candace Owens testify in front of Congress several years ago. I don’t recall the specific issue being discussed, but I vividly remember her (intellectually) mopping the floor with whatever D congressman was asking her, maybe it was that (dopey) Nadler?
Wow! Impressive, smart, aticulate, good looks… she’s got a real big future!
But, I didn’t think it would be this. And peddling those kinds of conspiracy theories? I was very wrong in my judgement then and find her completely repulsive.
Really good point Richard Aubrey. Especially that first sentence.
It’s why the mainline churches are shrinking; decent people are tired of hearing this stuff.
Richard Aubrey:
Sad but true.
I attended two Episcopalian churches in the 2000s. I gave it a shot.
@ Richard Aubrey > “While many Christians, very likely most, support Israel and sympathize with Jews”
FWIW, the LDS position unequivocally supports Israel as the homeland of the Jews*, and honors the historical Israelites as the Chosen People of the Lord and the stewards of the Law until the coming of Christ.
Doesn’t mean the members have to be lock-step in favor of whatever Israel’s political government does (anymore than we are of any government), but recognizes the place of the family of Abraham (Israel) in the great plan of being.
*Technically, Jews are the descendants of the tribe of Judah, but the name is extended to the other eleven tribes today.
Paul S. wrt Owens and Congress….what a massacre. Had seen something of her up to that point. Figured she’d be Somebody…on the right side. Gobsmacked to see her over the edge. It’s as if her family is held hostage or something. How else could somebody do such a screeching one-eighty?
Aesop. I’d heard that about the LDS. That’s different from applying the ideals of western liberal political thought and the enlightenment to a free nation with a representative government under attack by totalitarian enemies (of both of us). Just as worthy, and a reinforcement, so to speak, from a different direction.
As regards the Episcopalians…. Some years ago, the local piskies got involved in settling some refugees–the legal kind–and asked if anyone from the Presybies (my family) wanted in. Went to a meeting and various issues were discussed and actions put in train. one guy said, “I know we’re said to throw money at things but…” details of the plan followed. IOW, he was acknowledging the stereotype. It means they have the money, individually and corporately. Which is to say, as another commenter noted, they have a sheltered upbringing and life. There is money between them and consequences. This allows for a certain degree of self-righteousness.
She definitely has found a niche that someone is willing to pay for. Or she figured out that a goodly majority of her followers will cling to her better and with more fervor if she became a Jesus-confessing Jew-hater. She might have lost a few, but it seemed like A clever bet.
Not every follower is quite as dedicated as Owens is. I’d be willing to bet she has tens of thousands of “hate-followers,” who graze her content and posts to find things with which to tar conservatives, anti-semites, black women, etc.. I’d bet there are also tens of thousands of followers who find her hilarious in her juvenile conspiracy-mongering. And I’m certain there are thousands of people who disagree with her but just haven’t unfollowed her yet.
Sure, there are plenty of psychos hanging on her every word, but that number is not the monolith her social media stats report.
Mitchell Strand:
Impossible to know how many of her followers are admirers, of course. But in the last few years I’ve seen the growth of people on the right – or seemingly on the right – spreading her message. Lots of comments sections of blogs on the right that use Disqus for comments have such people.