Candace Owens vs. Conservatives: Who is Crazy?

Candace Owens has been making waves in the media since her falling out with The Daily Wire and the start of her new independent podcast, Candace.

Specifically due to her perspectives on Israel, many conservatives have publicly denounced her and disassociated from her entirely. I was one of these conservatives following her response to the barbaric attacks of October 7th. In short, I was dissatisfied with and disturbed by Owens’ seeming lack of empathy for the people of Israel and angry at her refusal to adopt the “Hamas deserves whatever it gets” perspective of the broad conservative media.

Despite this, I watch “Candace” daily with the intention of weighing her every word carefully and routinely fact-checking the evidence she presents to determine for myself if Candace “really has gone crazy.”

To my shock, regardless of how I feel about everything she shares on her show, I have found that it is not Candace who has gone crazy, but rather, it is the anti-Candace conservatives and the Christians in the media who are becoming “the crazy ones.” As a fellow Christian conservative, I hope you will hear me out.

A Collection of Woke Right Tears

Candace launched her new podcast with a recap of her departure of The Daily Wire, defending herself against attacks made by her former colleague, Andrew Klavan (someone whom I listen to and generally align with). She challenged Klavan and other conservatives who shared his “Candace is crazy” sentiments by insisting that they had caught the woke media virus.

Andrew Klavan said multiple times on his show and elsewhere that Owens is “extremely antisemitic.” He continued by explaining that the only caveat is she is being tricky about it, so you can’t really pin down the things she says as Jew-hatred, but it is there… somewhere.

As a person who originally cheered on this line of attack, I would like to pose this question in hindsight: Can we truly and honestly say that this point made by Klavan, and many others proves anything at all?

“Candace is antisemitic, but she hadn’t said anything overtly antisemitic” is a lacking argument at best. At worst, it is not an argument at all.

How many times have we heard the Leftist media use this tactic? “Trump is a rapist, but we can’t give you any evidence that he ever raped anyone;” “Trump is a Nazi, but he has never officially supported Hitler;” “Trump is a threat to democracy, but he hasn’t actually ever threatened democracy.”

To make the best out of this smear campaign, Candace began collecting what she deemed to be “woke right tears.” Between Klavan and others in conservative media, I would guess her cup is brimming over.

The Problem of Unfettered National Loyalty

Owens has spent a considerable amount of time on her new show questioning the actions of the government of Israel and its influence over American politics. This has earned her the title “antisemitic” from many conservative commentators.

While it is clear that the general public feels that this title is justified, I cannot help but recall the words of our founders in The Declaration of Independence “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends,” (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness), “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.”

If we have the right and duty as Americans to criticize our own government, why can’t we question Israel’s government? Or, if we do, why does the political Right immediately conduct a smear campaign equivalent to the cancel culture of the Left?

As a dispensationalist Christian, I believe that God will fulfill His promises to the nation and people of Israel. However, I also recognize that this does not mean that the government of Israel always does the will of God.

How many times in the Old Testament scriptures did Israel disobey the Lord and commit atrocities?

I am not making the point that the actions of Israel now compare to the evils of the past. I simply want to make the point that blind loyalty to the government of Israel, or any government, should not be required or expected of Americans or Christians. We have the right to question foreign governments as we question our own, and anyone who tells you otherwise should reread the Declaration of Independence.

The Challenge of Challenging Questions

The reason I listen to Candace is because, like Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and others, she is asking challenging questions, and is providing her audience with alternative answers to the established narrative.

If every voice in the media talked about the same headlines and arrived at the same conclusions, we would lose our ability to think critically, raise counterpoints, and refine our beliefs. So, we need Candace’s in the world — whether you agree with her at the end of the day or not.

This is why the reaction of the conservative media to Candace’s new show has been disheartening, to put it charitably. I have read and watched many responses to her show, and they all fail in the same area. Not one of them takes the time to refute her claims — they only misrepresent her, demean her, and denounce her.

For example, consider this article on Unherd by the Upward News founder and editor-in-chief, Ari David, or this interview by Berle Solomon with Pastor Greg Locke.

These commentators, like Andrew Klavan, fall into steep with leftist journalists by employing the ad hominem fallacy to demand Owens without taking the time to debunk her arguments.

If we claim to be the party of free speech, we cannot allow ourselves to sentence people as thought criminals when they question a foreign government! If their claims are false, it is our responsibility to logically articulate how and why.

If you do not agree with Candace Owens, research and understand her claims, present evidence to the contrary, and truthfully, respectfully, and credibly debunk her!

The Bottom Line

Honest media will debunk an argument without having to shame the other person as “crazy”, and true media is not afraid of engaging with alternative ideas.

Until conservative media calms down and cures itself of the woke media virus, the Standace cup will continue to overflow with “woke right tears”, while we continue to lose sleep over the claims of an “antisemitic, Jew hating, crazy lady.”