In our two-party system, there will always be competing factions that fight for ideological control over each party. However, today in the Republican Party the infighting is alarming: Conspiracy theories are eating the movement alive. Increasingly, prominent figures are not merely questioning institutions but promoting a worldview in which hidden plots explain every domestic and international event. The result has been public feuds among conservative commentators, alongside attempts by others to contain the damage caused by this paranoid wing of the party.
No figure better exemplifies this problem than Candace Owens.
Owens has become a prolific conspiracy theorist, spreading her theories with confidence, and little regard for evidence. As even a cursory list compiled by the New York Post demonstrates, Owens’s conspiratorial worldview is expansive and extreme. She has claimed the moon landing was fabricated and filmed by Stanley Kubrick, and that dinosaurs are “fake and gay.” Jews occupy a central place in her theories: Harvard is a Mossad base; Israel was involved in the September 11 attacks; the Holocaust is exaggerated or fake; Elie Wiesel is a liar;
Jews orchestrated the Bolshevik Revolution to exterminate Christians; Jews assassinated John F. Kennedy and, inexplicably, Michael Jackson as well.
In defense of some of the antisemitic comments of Kanye West, Candace claimed that “secret Jewish gangs” commit horrific crimes in Hollywood, and that these specific groups of people are using the fact that they are Jewish to avoid any criticism. She is currently facing a defamation suit from Brigitte Macron for her repeated insistence that the French President’s wife is actually transgender, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
More recently, Owens has promulgated countless theories about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. She claims that members of Talking Points USA who were close to Kirk have some sort of hidden guilt for the murder. She insinuated Israeli involvement, at one point stating that right after Kirk’s murder “for whatever reason, 12 Israeli cell phones were found on the ground at Utah Valley University.”. Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk’s wife, has publicly pleaded with conspiracy theorists to stop exploiting her family’s tragedy for attention and engagement. In an interview on CBS News her message was simple: “Stop.”
Party loyalty hasn’t prevented other conservative commentators from attacking Owens. Prominent right wing commentator Ben Shapiro has been open in his criticism of Candace. Ben Shapiro and his Daily Wire media platform broke off with Owens in 2024. Party loyalty hasn’t prevented other conservative commentators from attacking Owens. Prominent right wing commentator Ben Shapiro has been open in his criticism of Candace. Shapiro and his Daily Wire media platform broke off with Owens in 2024. As recently as December, at TPUSA’s annual conference, Shapiro called right-leaning pundits to account for their silence on Owens’ statements. “And the people who refused to condemn Candace’s truly vicious attacks—and some of them are speaking here tonight—are guilty of cowardice,” he said. “The fact that Candace has been vomiting all sorts of hideous and conspiratorial nonsense into the public square for years on end while others fly cover for her is just as cowardly.” Commentator Tim Pool in a fiery rant argues that Owens is “burning everything down” and that if Republicans lose the midterms, Candace Owens is to blame.
Still, Owens’ rhetoric is popular and widespread. With more than 5.6 million subscribers on YouTube, and 2.8 million on Instagram, she has millions of people listening to her, and not every massive figure on the right rejects her theories. Tucker Carlson has echoed the conspiratorial tone surrounding Kirk’s murder in agreement with Owens by breaking his silence on the murder investigation and questioning the FBI, suggesting that official explanations surrounding Kirk’s murder cannot be trusted.
Owens is not merely challenging institutions; she is smearing and defaming anything she can for attention and clicks. By elevating conspiracy over evidence and suspicion over reason, she attempts to legitimize the radical factions of the Republican Party that have abandoned persuasion in favor of paranoia. This is not a winning strategy, nor is it a sustainable one. If the party hopes to win elections, it must reject infected rhetoric like that of Candace Owens.
