Part Of The Problem – Candace Owens (November 8, 2025)

Host: Dave Smith (GaS Digital Network)
Guest: Candace Owens
Total Length: Approximately 1hr 16min

Overview

This episode features a candid, hard-hitting discussion between libertarian comedian-pundit Dave Smith and conservative commentator Candace Owens. The two dive into the ongoing crisis within the conservative movement, especially surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict, cancel culture, and recent events that have rocked right-wing media circles—including the political assassination of Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk. Both Dave and Candace reflect on the machinery of “cancellation” from both outside and inside the conservative movement, the weaponization of Israel discourse, and how principles, truth, and open debate are at stake.

Key Themes & Main Points

1. The Attempted Cancellation of Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and Others

• [02:47 - 04:40]
  • Dave discusses the paradox of traditional conservative media figures (e.g., Mark Levin, Dinesh D’Souza) attempting to "cancel" Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson, even though they now command the largest audiences on the right.
  • Candace reflects on surviving efforts to not only remove her from The Daily Wire but to bar her from public forums, cancel her speaking events, and even get her banned from countries.
  • Quote:
    “I had to cancel a [speaking] tour. Right. Simply because I didn’t agree with Israel…You would think that I harmed somebody by having a different opinion.”
    — Candace Owens [05:12]

2. Free Market for Ideas vs. Censorship and Deplatforming

• [07:40 - 09:47]
  • Candace and Dave rail against the conservative “gatekeepers" who favor restricting the market of ideas, comparing current attempts to ostracize dissenters about Israel to the earlier deplatforming of figures like Alex Jones.
  • Dave observes that the free market is rewarding dissenters: “You demonstrated that people could have the courage to say the right thing and then the audience demonstrated that, yeah…there’s a lot of people who will have your back if you do that.” [08:51]

3. Evolution on Israel/Palestine

• [09:47 - 11:57]
  • Candace describes her journey from neutrality and a place of wanting to learn, to being demonized for even raising questions about Israel/Gaza. She notes the toxic social dynamics that punish curiosity and honest inquiry.
  • She shares about seeking alternative perspectives, e.g., watching Basam Youssef’s viral commentary, and talking with independent journalists like Max Blumenthal.
  • Quote:
    “I actually didn’t have a perspective, but I knew that I didn’t know everything. And they were just so vicious with ‘no, you have to come out and you have to say these things.’”
    — Candace Owens [09:50]

4. Hypocrisy in Conservative Media

• [14:30 - 15:26; 19:52+]
  • Dave and Candace critique figures like Ben Shapiro and Dave Rubin for being “algorithmically promoted” during the ‘woke years,’ while more critical or anti-war voices were deplatformed.
  • Dave: “It was easy in those years for them to pretend like that wasn’t actually all they cared about…but actually, that’s all they care about.” [15:03]
  • The pair note neoconservative history and the oscillation of the elite right when their foreign-policy priorities are challenged.

5. The Psychological Operation & Peer Pressure to Conform

• [16:42 - 20:42]
  • Candace likens the pressure to endorse hawkish Israel talking points to a psychological operation, referencing how this was felt by Kanye West and (later) herself.
  • The behind-the-scenes methods include friend-intrusion and gaslighting:
    “They always come at you as a friend, like, ‘I care about you…Are you okay, Dave?’” — Candace Owens [18:11]
  • She singles out Seth Dillon (Babylon Bee) and others as emblematic of a toxic, even “demonic,” response to dissent.

6. The Charlie Kirk Assassination, Its Aftermath, and Suppression of Evidence

• [23:52 - 34:52; 39:17+]
  • Dave offers the most detailed segment regarding the political dynamics around Charlie Kirk’s assassination, donor pressure, and the Zionist lobby.
  • Candace shares details including:
    • Bibi Netanyahu’s personal interventions after Kirk's death.
    • Millions in donations pulled from Turning Point USA over Kirk’s Israel stances.
    • Internal friction, group chat evidence, and the obfuscation by Turning Point leaders.
  • Both Dave and Candace stress that there was an unnatural rush to control Kirk’s legacy and downplay his changing stances.
  • Quote:
    “For me, the attack, they always do is they kind of try to make it seem like you’re going crazy. That’s the wildest part to me…That makes me really uncomfortable to do something like that.”
    — Candace Owens [18:11]
    “You’re only lying because you’re hiding something, right?”
    — Candace Owens [29:42]
  • Notable Discussion:
    [41:40] Candace insists on the importance of accurately remembering Kirk:
    “Charlie said Charlie was pro Israel…because he actually believed it at that time. He was an authentic human being…If he thought something and he was wrong, he would change his mind.”

7. Problems in the Maga/Conservative Coalition and Israel/War as the Wedge

• [47:28; 51:18+]
  • Dave notes that prominent right-wing figures accuse Owens, Carlson, et al., of fracturing the right; Candace inverts this, arguing the true splintering came from leadership’s “Epstein who?” response and unwavering pro-Israel stances.
  • Candace:
    “We have the Republican Party, we have a Democrat Party, and then we have the Nesset Party, and they’ve infiltrated both…Left and right, people are saying no to that.” [51:18]

8. Trump, the “Swamp,” and the Loss of Authentic Leadership

• [56:24 - 59:54]
  • Dave and Candace critique Trump’s abandonment of the outsider “drain the swamp” ethos—especially after his halfhearted response to Epstein and entanglement with the same war lobbies the base rejected.
  • Dave:
    “The energy and the loyalty and the enthusiasm were just tremendously degraded by him [Trump]…The whole political raison d'etre of Donald Trump was to drain the swamp…and this is the swampiest of the swamp.” [56:44]
  • Candace gives a scathing critique of loyalty to party over principle, saying “You’re not going to shame me for saying everything you’re doing is unacceptable…You must have never listened to a thing I’ve ever said if you think that I am that blind and dumb and loyal…” [64:45]

9. The Path Forward: Principles, the Free Market of Ideas, & Personal Agency

• [70:50 - End]
  • Both discuss the political and spiritual necessity of an “America First” message anchored in truth, non-intervention, and fiscal responsibility.
  • Candace highlights the homeschooling movement as a metaphor for countering the establishment:
    “They get so much power by being able to infiltrate their minds when they’re young…Pull your kids out…Homeschool.” [74:35]
  • The show closes affirming the future belongs to those who stick to truth and refuse to be bullied by dishonest power structures.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Candace Owens on surviving cancellation:
  “That’s where their true hatred and vitriol is coming from, is the fact that we survived a virtual assassination attempt…We shouldn’t have survived it. But…we survived.”
  [04:55]

• Dave Smith on market rewards for truth:
  “Not only is there not a price to be paid, there’s a reward in the market for people going like, oh, yeah, she stood up for what was right.”
  [08:17]

• Candace on moral boundaries:
  “If I never get to go to Mar a Lago again, at least I can lay my head in the pillow and know that I’m not cheering for children to die… I’m not going to root on children dying.”
  [06:04]

• Candace’s advice for resisting the establishment:
  “Attack it where you can in your own household…They’ve never been more rous in their demands for cancellation…An animal backed into a corner fights the hardest. Keep talking… and we will win.”
  [75:10]

• Dave on infiltration and controlled opposition:
  “They have to almost rely on running like us, but then… demonize all of us or something.”
  [68:33]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:47: Start of the main interview, discussion of cancellation attempts
• 05:00: Candace recounts being canceled for Gaza views
• 09:47: Candace’s entry into Middle Eastern politics, curiosity punished
• 16:42: Description of the psychological/peer pressure tactics
• 23:52: Deep dive into the political and financial context of Charlie Kirk’s death
• 29:42: Candace explains why lies = evidence of something to hide
• 41:40: Importance of accurate memory and resisting “legacy hijacking”
• 56:24: Trump’s failure to maintain anti-establishment energy
• 61:45: College/“anti-Semitism” hysteria as a distraction from real issues
• 70:50: Path forward: true America First, homeschool, free speech, and anti-war
• 75:10: Closing thoughts: “Keep talking…we will win.”

Tone and Style

This episode maintains the direct, adversarial, at times irreverent and emotionally charged language characteristic of both Dave Smith and Candace Owens. Candace moves fluently from humor to anger to vulnerability as she recounts betrayal, loss, and perseverance. Dave acts as analyst, advocate, and ally—inviting listeners to see hypocrisy for what it is and not surrender principles.

For Listeners: Why This Episode Matters

Even if you haven’t followed the recent turbulence inside conservative politics, this episode provides a transparent (and often raw) look inside the ideological wars shaping the right today. It also offers a rare admission of doubt, evolution, and the courage to stand alone—whether the topic is Israel, censorship, or Trump-era disillusionment. If you care about principle over party and the future of anti-establishment politics, this is required listening.

End of Summary.