Getty/Jason Davies
Candace Owens is a 35-year-old influencer, mother of three, proud anti-feminist, and one of the most extreme voices in America’s alt-right.
With 18 million followers across her platforms, she shares hateful views about Muslim, Jewish and trans people, criticising the Black Lives Matter movement and calling COVID-19 “the most ridiculous scam in the entire world.”
And she’s determined to tour Australia in November, selling VIP tickets at $1500 a pop and general admission for $100 for a series of evenings she promises will be “electrifying.”
But, she’s on a collision course with Australian immigration, openly feuding with Immigration Minister Tony Burke. As reported by The Sydney Morning Herald reported that he will be blocking Owen’s visa, quipping: “Tickets to these events are selling for $100. I hope she has a good refund policy.”
But Owens seems determined.
Who Is Candace Owens?
Owens is a US internet personality political commentator and previous host on the American conservative news website The Daily Wire and her own cancelled series Candace. She currently distributes her extremist views on Twitter/X, Instagram, her YouTube channel, Revv and her website.
Along with other alt-right shock jocks like Andrew Tate, Lana Lokteff and Pearl Owens who blend entertainment with hate speech, she rose to prominence on Donald Trump’s coattails but has since criticised the presidential hopeful for being “too moderate.”
In the past, Owens has claimed that Israel was founded by a “cult” of “secret Jewish gangs” who operate in Hollywood. She has also minimized Nazi atrocities. She has suggested that trans people suffer “clinical insanity” and suggested they were responsible for an increase in mass shootings in America. Her exit from the The Daily Wire has been attributed to clashes with Jewish conservative founder and host Ben Shapiro.
On her podcast Candice she discusses Ozempics, the Kardashians, Madonna, body positivity (she hates it), and women wearing yoga pants in non-workout settings (she also hates it) as much as she comments on political issues.
She told reporter Clare Malone that she felt a major failing of the conservative movement was that they “stuck up our nose to culture.” The implication was they had failed to connect with women and those who might not identify as hard conservatives but could be engaged by lighter content.
Owens believes that white supremacy and white nationalism are not a concern in the US, saying the Black Lives Matter movement, one of the largest racial justice protests in the United States since the Civil Rights Movement sparked by the police murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin as “about Black anarchy.”
In 2022 she attended Paris Fashion Week with Kanye West wearing matching “White Lives Matter” t-shirts.
Candace Owens Is Coming For Your Yoga Pants Too
As noted in a 2023 The New Yorker profile, The Gospel Of Candace Owens, Owens rose to prominence as a political commentator and now, like many conservative women, focuses on lifestyle content.
On her podcast Candice she discusses Ozempic, the Kardashians, Madonna and body positivity (she hates it), and women wearing yoga pants in non-workout settings (she also hates it) as much as she comments on political issues. Unsurprisingly, she’s embraced the concept of “trad wives.”
She told reporter Clare Malone that she felt a major failing of the conservative movement was that they “stuck up our nose to culture” The implication was they had failed to connect with women and those who might not identify as hard conservatives but could be engaged by lighter content.
How Australians Have Responded To The Candace Owens?
The news of Candace Owens’ planned tour in Australia has sparked concern among Jewish groups, who have demanded the government bar the US provocateur from holding a speaking tour. They have pointed to an overall increase in extremist conservative ideology in Australia as a major concern.
The Zionist Federation of Australia leaders Jeremy Leibler and Alon Cassuto wrote in a letter to Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Tony Burke. They reported by The Sydney Morning Herald: “There is no place in Australia for Candace Owens and her vile, divisive and dangerous conspiracy theories. Your government has rightfully expressed concern about the increasing embrace of extreme ideologies by Australians. Extremism, racism, bigotry and antisemitism are unacceptable in any form, regardless of whether they originate from the far left or right.”
Notably, Tony Burke has echoed these concerns, affirming his commitment to a zero-tolerance policy on hate speech. He consulted with anti-semitism envoys, indicating a strong stance against such divisive rhetoric. Burke has the authority to reject visas on the grounds that individuals are “not of good character.”
Owens, however, has been met with some support from Australia’s conservative media.
She has used Australian promotional interviews to spew disinformation. In an interview with 2GB radio host Ben Fordham, she repeated discredited claims about voter fraud in the US, telling Fordham that Americans “don’t have faith in our election process and accusing the media of misrepresenting her. “I’ve just been used to the media intentionally taking something I say and representing. Like, ‘she hates black people’ or for COVID, ‘she wants your grandmother to die.” As reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, Fordham has been enthusiastically promoting Owen’s website and has suggested Owen’s antisemitic remarks have been taken out of context.
Owens has also, perhaps unsurprisingly, received a sympathetic ear on ADH TV, a network once led by Alan Jones, who has stood down following allegations of indecent assault published by The Sydney Morning Herald.
Why Does Candace Owens Want To Tour Australia So Badly?
It’s not the first time Candace Owen has expressed interest in Australia. In a 2021 episode of The Daily Wire, Owens suggested the US military come to Australia’s rescue, saying Australia was “suffering under a totalitarian regime” under COVID-19 restrictions. She compared the Australian government to regimes run by Hitler, Stalin and the Taliban. “When did we deploy troops to Australia? When do we invade Australia and free an oppressed people who are suffering under a totalitarian regime? When do we spend trillions of dollars to spread democracy in Australia?”
Now, Candance Owens feels her tour will find a receptive audience in Australia. While we may assume her audience is limited to Reddit-dwelling incels and conspiracy theorists, data suggests that, as suggested by the Zionist Federation, she may be right.
In 2021, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) said that right-wing extremism makes up 50 per cent of its priority caseload.
In April, Asio reported an increase in activity by hate groups agitating for a “race war”. The home affairs department informed a parliamentary enquiry that they had seen a rise in Nazi imagery in Australia and raised concern about specific Victorian counsel groups being targeted for their support of the LGBTQI+ community. As reported by The Guardian, ASIO said racist and nationalist groups “are more likely to focus on recruitment and radicalisation rather than attack planning in the foreseeable future.”
In 2024, along with an increase in hard extremism, there’s been increased interest in soft-conservative lifestyle movements like “stay-at-home girlfriends” and “trad wives”. While some feel these movements are harmless, others see them as recruitment tactics that are as problematic as Owens’.
Currently, Owens has described Australia’s response to her tour as anti-free speech. “It’s kind of incredible to think people could be fearful of just speech and conversation,” she said in a response to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Currently, Owens has yet to apply for or be granted a visa.
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