Candace Ep 284 – “You Won't Believe What Happened While We Were Off Air...”

Podcast: Candace
Host: Candace Owens
Date: January 6, 2026

Overview

In this solo episode, Candace Owens returns from a break with a candid, unfiltered monologue covering a turbulent two weeks in rightwing media and political activism. She dissects the controversies and feuds swirling around Turning Point USA’s AMfest event, lays out behind-the-scenes infighting, addresses her fallout with The Daily Wire, and dives deep into conspiracy allegations connected to Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Candace warns that American discourse feels increasingly fake and manipulated, amplifying her sense that we're living in a “psychological operation.” The episode is sprinkled with sharp-tongued commentary, irreverent humor, and frequently features incisive soundbites from comedian Tim Dillon.

Main Topics & Key Insights

1. New Year, Old Problems (00:00–03:30)

• Candace celebrates the arrival of 2026, mentioning show rebranding and a shoutout to 11-year-old fan Johnny from Missouri.
• She immediately addresses ongoing government malfeasance and social media confusion after The Daily Wire reactivated her old accounts without permission, teasing upcoming revelations.

Notable Quote

“I am letting the Internet go. I am done. Done. Okay? I'm already the media's public enemy number one. But now I feel ready to fully embrace that.” (02:20)

2. Critiquing Turning Point USA’s AMfest: “A Pyramid Scheme Convention” (03:30–10:00)

• Candace revisits the Turning Point USA’s AMfest conference, labeling it as disturbingly inauthentic, comparing it to “a convention for a pyramid scheme” or “Disney World for adults.”
• Highlights Tim Dillon’s viral takedown of AMfest, characterizing it as a grotesque spectacle indistinguishable from Hollywood pageantry.

Clip – Tim Dillon on AMfest

“This turning point kind of abomination that the right wing of this country has turned into like a bad reality show… For people that talked about how Hollywood isn't relatable and Hollywood is out of touch, this looks a lot like Hollywood to most people.” (04:46)

• Candace underscores how the event’s pageantry and pyrotechnics clash with purported conservative values, especially in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

Notable Quote

“Like, yeah, Ben Shapiro didn't really like Charlie when he was alive, but he gave us a million dollars. So he's going to be at Amfest. And he's not only just gonna be at Amfest, he's gonna walk out right after Erica Kirk opens up Amfest.” (07:36)

3. The Morbid “Tent” and Emotional Alienation (10:00–14:00)

• Candace is shocked that AMfest recreated “the tent where Charlie Kirk lost his life,” with attendees taking selfies there.
• She likens the event's overt spectacle to a society that’s lost its humanity, saying it feels like being surrounded by lifelike but soulless robots—"sentinels."
• She uses the tent as a symbol of the uncanny, inhuman spirit suffusing current political culture.

Notable Quote

“They made a conscious decision to allow that to happen. To what end?… the gap that's between us and the rest of them is essentially, they don't know how to behave like humans.” (12:11)

4. Surrealism, Grief, and Media Simulation (14:00–17:30)

• Candace discusses the bizarre CBS/Bari Weiss interview with Erica Kirk, where the student who asked Kirk a question moments before his death (Hunter Kozak) was brought back for a new question—a move Candace finds deeply unsettling and inhuman.
• She juxtaposes this with other examples of society's weirdness, citing Tim Dillon’s remarks about the dysfunctionality and “movie-like” feel of American life.

Clip – Tim Dillon on culture

“What a profoundly dysfunctional society we have. There's nothing to look up to. There's no one to be excited about, really ... The least controversial member of this administration is RFK Jr. … His sexts are nowhere near as, you know, scandalous as, like, Cash Patel…” (14:15)

Notable Quote

“The way that I feel when I watch that clip is like, when Bari Weiss goes home at night, she just plugs herself into the wall to charge.” (16:00)

5. The World Is “Fake and Gay”: Society in Denial (17:30–26:41)

• Candace asserts that “everything is fake and gay,” meaning events feel artificial, orchestrated by elites who want to distract the masses from pressing truths (e.g., Epstein, Brigitte Macron controversies).
• Plays a Tim Dillon monologue skewering society’s preference for consumer comforts and amenities while ignoring “satanic pedophile” elites shaping the world.

Clip – Tim Dillon on denial

“[T]he denial of that culture that has manufactured this culture of nothingness. It is the unwillingness to look that in the face that has produced slop.” (22:54)

Notable Moment

• The segment’s satirical riff on luxury condo amenities underscores the absurd disconnect between societal narratives and hidden realities.

6. On The Daily Wire, Social Media “Stalking” & New Rivalries (26:41–33:00)

• Candace addresses The Daily Wire’s unexpected reactivation of her old platforms and trailers, revealing they’re preparing to launch a new show with intern Madison Bransford—partially built around mocking Candace.
• She likens The Daily Wire's persistence to a “crazy ex,” calling this behavior toxic and obsessive.

Notable Quote

“There was an element of this that felt. And I, and I truly am not trying to be dramatic here, it felt like a crazy ex stalker. Like, if I can't have you, nobody can have you, you know?” (29:30)

7. Fort Huachuca: Conspiracies, Psychological Operations & Smeared Whistleblowers (33:00–49:06)

• Candace dives into the ongoing controversy about the Fort Huachuca military base and its possible link to Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
• She recounts whistleblower Mitch Snow’s claims: seeing key Turning Point personnel (including Erica Kirk and Brian Harpole) on base just before the assassination, and his subsequent aggressive discrediting by rightwing influencers (notably Alex Jones).
• Candace lays out step-by-step attempts to smear, threaten, and discredit Mitch—including attacks on his character and allegations of “stolen valor”—and how these efforts backfire, ironically confirming details of his story.
• Plays a clip of Alex Jones “declaring war” on Candace over the issue:

Clip – Alex Jones

“So just get your asses ready because you want a war. I want your war. ... I'm gonna take you on because you work for the Deep State and the Democratic party and the CIA and MI6 and I see your ass. So you just get ready.” (40:41)

• Highlights a YouTuber, Paramount Tactical, accidentally reading direct messaging instructions from Andrew Colvett (Turning Point USA spokesperson), thus exposing orchestrated smear campaigns.

Clip – Paramount Tactical

“I wasn't supposed to share that, but anyways, point being is that's 8:33am, it shows the date on that. Sorry, Andrew, I screwed that up, man.” (49:06)

• Candace interprets these coordinated attacks as evidence of a coverup and insists she’s being targeted for telling inconvenient truths.

8. The “Ceasefire Is Violated” – Candace vs. Turning Point/Andrew Colvett (49:06–55:15)

• Candace gives insider recounting of her attempted communications with Erica Kirk, Andrew Colvett, and Turning Point’s COO to verify critical alibis; she’s met with evasions and incomplete evidence.
• She reveals that Andrew Colvett was her original source on several major allegations related to the “Hamptons meeting” and Bibi Netanyahu’s involvement with Turning Point.
• Candace expresses frustration with being gaslit, manipulated, or stonewalled when seeking factual clarity.

Notable Quote

“I’m very clear that that’s what I was told... They copped to the fact that yeah, Andrew Colvett did receive that text from Charlie the night before, and Charlie was worried he was going to be killed. But, you know, Erica didn’t know this information and she was looking in his iMessages. Okay? So Andrew went so rogue that he didn’t even communicate after Charlie was assassinated to the team that Charlie was afraid he was gonna die...” (51:00)

9. The Battle Lines: “Sentinels vs. Human Beings” (55:15–End)

• Candace frames the public struggle as existential: “Are you with the sentinels [robots, elites, coverups], or are you with the human beings [authenticity, truth]?”
• She previews further revelations in upcoming episodes regarding Fort Huachuca, alleged congressional connections, and suspected black operations.

Memorable Sign-off

“New year, same BS bed slop, you guys. We’ll see you tomorrow.” (end)

Notable Quotes, Time-stamped

• On the spectacle of AMfest:

“The conference looks and felt like a weekend in Las Vegas. Like Disney World for adults... disturbing.” (03:53)

• On the reality show vibe of right-wing activism:

“Political people are the exact same thing as the Hollywood elites that they all love to dunk on.” — Tim Dillon (06:17)

• On the recreated tent at AMfest:

“They're hoping that with enough of them pretending like it’s fine, they can override our humanity. Like, well, everyone’s saying this is fine, so it has to be fine.” (13:10)

• On American denial and surface-level distraction:

“It is the denial of that culture that has produced this culture of nothingness.” — Tim Dillon (22:54)

• On being unable to escape former employers:

“Have you ever heard anybody just be like, can you please just fire me? ... Please just let me go on my merry way. It’s never going to end.” (End)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00–03:30: New year intro, show rebranding, and government/media grievances
• 03:30–10:00: AMfest critique, Tim Dillon’s take, spectacle analysis
• 10:00–14:00: The “tent” display, inhumanity, “sentinels” allegory
• 14:00–17:30: Hunter Kozak/Erica Kirk interview, Tim Dillon’s “dysfunctional society” riff
• 17:30–26:41: Deep State, fake culture, Tim Dillon's “pill to swallow” sketch
• 26:41–33:00: Daily Wire reanimation of Candace’s socials, stalking analogies, launch of “In the No”
• 33:00–49:06: Fort Huachuca allegations, Alex Jones attacks, coordinated smears/Ops, Andrew Colvett exposes himself
• 49:06–55:15: Candace details deception, disinformation, and turns up pressure on Turning Point/Colvett
• 55:15–End: Big picture framing—“battle lines”, ongoing investigation, sign-off

Closing Thoughts

Candace Owens wields her characteristic blend of blunt honesty, skepticism, and culture-war irreverence to tear into what she views as corruption, inauthenticity, and psychological manipulation at the highest levels of American media and activism. Whether discussing manufactured narratives in political organizations, the surrealism of celebrity politics, or her own complicated fallout with conservative media, Candace’s central question for listeners is: “How many humans are actually left?” This episode marks a “no more holding back” shift in her stance and sets the tone for a year she predicts will be defined by hard truths, exposed lies, and a struggle to remain real in an ever-weirder world.