← Straight Shooter with Stephen A.
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- [00:00]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal and I'm teaming up with the King of Spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft. Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [00:31]
Stephen A. Smith
What's up everyone?
- [00:32]
Candace Owens
Julie Swerbinks here along with former NHL player Nate Thompson. We're doing a new podcast together. Here we go.
- [00:38]
Stephen A. Smith
The name Energy Line with Nate and jsb.
- [00:42]
Candace Owens
Each week we'll get together and talk about hockey life. All topics are fair game, right?
- [00:47]
Stephen A. Smith
Exactly. And you'll never know who will drop by to join us.
- [00:51]
Candace Owens
Julia's pretty well connected. She has text threads going that you wouldn't believe.
- [00:55]
Stephen A. Smith
Listen to Energy Line with Nate and jsb on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts.
- [01:00]
Candace Owens
Or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:06]
Stephen A. Smith
Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak with the one and only Candace Owens. For those of you who don't know, she's a far right pundit who's not afraid to speak a mind on a variety of topics, even if her stance is controversial. She she's an African American with conservative views that usually don't sit well with a whole lot of people. And I want to talk about that before we play this interview. See, on this show, one of the things that have been transpiring over the last weeks and months is that we've seen a lot of liberals come onto this show. We've seen Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, on this show. We've seen minority leader in the House, the one and only Hakeem Jeffries, the successor to Nancy Pelosi. You just saw me interview former New York governor, candidate for the mayor's seat of New York, Mr. Andrew Cuomo. You've seen Chris Cuomo on this show on many occasions. Bill O'Reilly's been on this show. Byron Donald, representative out of the state of Florida, he's been on this show. But when you see these folks, and let me not forget Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland, he's also been on this show. A lot of times people forget some of those guys. They remember others. Josh Shapiro has been on the show, governor of Pennsylvania. And from what I'm being told, there's a whole bunch of people on Capitol Hill that want to end up on this show. And I'm honored to have them all. I say all of that to say on this show, this platform. I pride myself on being fair minded. I'm not an aficionado when it comes to politics. I'm just a conscientious observer. I read the news, I watch stuff on television. I see what I see. I wonder about what's going on. Based on the facts that are disseminated to us. I'm able to deduce balls and strikes and how to call it, and I go from there. For some people, that's not good enough. My response is, you're going to have to get over it. I'm not here to be friends, not here to make enemies either. But I am here to be fair. And part of fairness is letting people speak and giving them an opportunity to express their views, even when I don't agree with them. In the case of Candace Owens, we gonna do that. I got her for 25 minutes. She's already promised that she's coming back on. And we gonna have a more lengthier discussion about all the things that entails Candace Owens, what makes her who she is. But why would I be interested in talking to her? It's not just because she's opposite, say, somebody like a Roland Martin or an Areva Martin who have been analysts, left wing analysts, I might add, that have blessed me with their presence on this show. But it's also to pique my curiosity and to edify me to some degree. You see, when I think about blacks who are conservatives, I see a guy like Officer Tatum out there. I want to meet that man. I want to talk to that man in terms of black conservatives, like an Officer Tatum, like a Candace Owen and various others, they pique my interest. Do you know why? Because they deviate from the norm. You see, when people make an argument against the black community and they say that we're monolithic in our thinking, I don't like that. When they say that 85 to 90% of the people in a black community are going to vote democratically, that has always unnerved me for a few reasons. Number one, I remember when Lyndon B. Johnson was quoted as saying, before 1964, civil rights legislation was placed in the law. Put this through, push this legislation through, and we'll have the Negroes vote for us for the next 200 years. And I think about how divided society can be, how divided communities can be. You could be Hispanic, you could be Dominican. You could be Cuban, you could be Guatemalan, you could be Venezuelan, you could be Puerto Rican, you could be Mexican, it doesn't matter. You can't go to all of them and say, oh, excuse me, we got their vote. You can't take them for granted. You can't go to whites who are Catholics, whites who are Jewish and say, oh, we got their vote. You can't go to the Asian community and say, oh, we got their vote. We got that on lock. But somehow, some way, you could say that about us. So on one hand, we have a party which is the Democratic Party, which at least some people in the black community believe has taken us for granted because they know they got our vote. And then you got folks on the side of the conservatives who saying, there's no way in hell we gonna get the black vote, so why worry about them? And as a result, we end up being a disenfranchised community. That's the argument we were making before this past election. Back eight years ago, nine years ago, Trump looked at America, black America in particular, and said, what do you have to lose? Fast forward to 2024. He didn't have to say that because we saw a Democratic Party leaning significantly to the progressive left with the rhetoric they were spewing, and it cost them an election. How do we know that Trump won all the swing states? His popularity increased within 89% of the counties in the United States of America. His popularity increased within the black community, within the Hispanic community and with young voters. And for the first time in 20 years, a Republican won the popular vote, not just the Electoral College vote. Sometimes that should give you cause to pause and to stand up and pay attention and to wonder, what's the other side thinking? Rather than challenge them on every single thing they think, feel and spew, step back, simply ask the question and listen to what they have to say, knowing there's another day to get into a whole bunch of other stuff. That's what I decided to do with Candace Owens. Say what you will about her, she's smart as a whip, highly intelligent, very articulate, and doesn't play. There will be times in the future where hopefully she and I can get together and butt heads over one issue or another, but this interview wasn't the time for that. It was my first time ever meeting her and speaking to her, to my knowledge, and I simply wanted to ask some questions out of curiosity, to get her response and to let that response be heard to the masses. No judgment, no pushback. There would be another time for that. Not this interview. Not with only 25 minutes with her. I just wanted to hear how she would answer certain questions before I revisit those issues and many more with her later. She promised to come back, and I'm thankful for that. For now, let's just listen and hear what she has to say. Your boy, Stephen A. Smith with the one and only Candace Horns. Take a look. I want to start off by saying I am not responsible for any comments that are about to be made. I'm just interviewing. I'm just listening and hearing from the other side, per se. Buckle up with your seatbelt for this one because my next guest is considered a controversial figure. Known for her provocative statements and conservative views. She's built a successful media brand which includes a popular podcast and a new book called Make Them a Sandwich. Why Real Women Don't Need Fake Feminism. Despite facing criticism and controversy, she remains unapologetic and continues to push boundaries with her content and her opinions. Please welcome to the Stephen A. Smith show, the one and only Candice Owens. Candace, how are you? Pleasure to meet you. How's everything?
- [10:07]
Candace Owens
It is great. And I'm actually so excited. I kept this from your producer because it's too good for me not to have told you as we're running live because this is a full circle moment, but I've actually met you before.
- [10:17]
Stephen A. Smith
Okay.
- [10:18]
Candace Owens
And my ex boyfriend many years ago was a huge Stephen A. Smith fan. So we watched you and Skip every single morning. And then we went to a Knicks game and he was like, do you think you can get hand get him to give you a handshake? And you were coming in under into like after the game had ended. You were obviously in the front. We were not that close. And I was like, stephen A. Smith, Stephen A. Smith, please, please shake my hand. And then he caught it on camera and then you gave me a high five. And it basically made our whole life, just so you know.
- [10:48]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, listen, I'm glad we have a fond memory together, but it's a pleasure meeting you. And just for the record, you are not in enemy territory. So I've got a lot of questions to ask you. But before I even get into all of that, I hear congratulations is in order. Mother of three expecting a fourth child. Is that true?
- [11:04]
Candace Owens
That is correct. Eight more weeks to go here. So it's just a factory over here. And thank you very much. It's a blessing.
- [11:11]
Stephen A. Smith
Absolutely. Congratulations to you and you and your hubby and your family and everything like that. Wishing you nothing but the best. Let's get Right to it. Candice, first things first. You know, when you saw the election results take fold and you saw Donald Trump win the election, popular vote, electoral college vote, et cetera, et cetera, what were the thoughts that ran through your mind when you saw the results transpiring?
- [11:34]
Candace Owens
You know, I think that the first thing I thought was that old school expression, it's the economy, stupid. You know, we've done a lot and everyone's screaming at each other all the time. There's been all these social movements and you, he versus her and black versus white. But at the end of the day, people just weren't living well under the Biden regime. I call it a regime, but it gets down to how was I living? What were the gas prices, how expensive are groceries? Are you willing to try something different? And I think genuinely there's a fatigue that is setting in that has set in that was beginning to sort of percolate of people that are just exhausted with being angry, you know what I mean? Like the media constantly selling this guy's this, this guy's that, she's this, she's. I think we're all just tired and that's kind of a good thing.
- [12:23]
Stephen A. Smith
Do you believe that Donald Trump won the election or that the progressive left and their thought process, their policies, some of the things that they were spewing, it was more a product of them losing. That's what I've been saying. It wasn't about him winning, it was about America saying, nah, he's closer to normal than what the hell we're hearing over here. We don't like this. And that's what transpired. What do you think it was?
- [12:45]
Candace Owens
You are completely on the money with that. It was really more that the left lost. And it was a weird, it was very strange to watch Kamala run, I will say that, because she really only ran for 100 days. Right. Trump had been running throughout four years, basically kind of upset about the loss in 2020. And she kind of just comes in and it's almost like a coronation, which I think was disrespectful to the left leaning voter base. Like it was just, well, he has kind of said he's knighted me and therefore I am the that you should be electing. And she didn't really work for it and rather was, I think, quite accusatory. If you don't elect her, it's because you have an issue with women. I don't think Obama's speech to the brothers, the quote unquote brothers, helped him any. He's been dis. He's been gone. He's in Martha's Vineyard, living in a house. God knows how much it costs. Not something I could afford. And then he kind of reappears to sort of lecture the brothers about their responsibility. And I just don't think it sat well this time around. Just a different time, a different audience, and people kind of realizing, hey, that's not really enough. Paint me a vision. Tell me what you're actually going to do for me. Don't tell me that it's just simply my responsibility to give this woman votes because she's a woman.
- [13:58]
Stephen A. Smith
You know, I want to transition to Trump, back to Trump in this regard. I just. We just saw it. That world just saw. It wasn't a press conference or anything like that. I don't call it that. Him with Ukrainian President Zelensky and how he went at him and what have you. Now, Zelensky, if I remember correctly, you didn't speak too highly of him. Am I? I want to make sure I'm quoting you, acting accurately. You called him a homosexual actor. Is that true? Did you call him that?
- [14:20]
Candace Owens
I also just called him the neighborhood crackhead. Kind of just goes around asking for money. I've called him a welfare queen. Ghetto. This is the thing, the media kind of had me depicted throughout BLM as this person that uses these words to describe black people. I'm like, no, no, no, no. Let's be very clear. When I am calling somebody like Zelinsky a welfare queen, there's a reason for that. You come here with your hand out, asking, asking, asking, making demands. It's funny, because I was having a discussion with my husband about this, and, you know, it's people that tend to need the most that make these sorts of demands, and they. They're so arrogant. He's taken billions away. Unaccounted billions, by the way. So you and I have to get to work because Zelensky wants his borders protected, and we can't have our borders protected because that would be a racist thing to ask for. But he's allowed to demand that you and I get to work because he spent all the billions. His wife is shopping in Paris, the oligarchs in Ukraine are all buying yachts. And, yeah, I have absolutely no respect for him, but I wanna say I have not respected that man since day one. This is not something that's new. I just saw him coming.
- [15:22]
Stephen A. Smith
It's not something that's new. But what about Trump and Vance and how they conducted themselves? You and I might disagree on this particular issue, because I don't disagree with what you're saying in terms of. I was on the record saying, listen, you're coming with your handout. You need money. You might not want to be confrontational. You might want to be a bit more diplomatic, Zelensky, because you're the one that's in need. And Trump wasn't wrong when he said, or. You don't have any of the cards. You don't have any of the cards. The flip side to it, however, is that the press conference. You're in the Oval Office. We know this is the White House. This isn't someplace in Ukraine. And he's got broken English. And you got the vice president interrupting him. You got them, I thought, somewhat bullying him to some degree. I just didn't think it was necessary. It was a good look. That's where I'm coming from. Am I wrong in feeling that way?
- [16:03]
Candace Owens
Yeah. No, I think you're perfectly. These are your feelings. They're valid. Right. If that's how you felt for me, I felt it was refreshing. I'm so tired of politics. I know. They always button it up for us. They're constantly telling us, oh, this, and saying things that sound good but don't actually result in good things. And I think it was sort of the frustration of how much he has taken from America to not come with some respect. And I likened it to, even when you go to your granddad's house and it's your birthday, your mom kind of makes you wear something special. You know, he's going to give you a card and slip some cash in there, a hundred dollars. Granddad's always good for that. And you just come with some decorum and some respect. This dude is wearing. Has been wearing military fatigues for, like, five years now. Okay, put on a suit. As soon as he gets out of the car, Trump's like, well, he's dressed up. This should let you know. This is signal to the public that what he's doing is an act. Why give me a scenario, a reason why he can't put on a suit. Even if you're in the midst of a war, why can't you put on a suit when you're coming to ask for money? Well, because he wants people to see him as a guy that's downtrodden in the trenches. And he's not that. This guy's been on the COVID of Vanity Fair. He's been on the COVID of Vogue, he's been on the COVID of Forbes, he's doing photo shoots. He did a three hour podcast with Lex Friedman. He asked and was declined a spot to go to the Oscars a couple of years ago. And so this is making a mockery. It's just making him put on a suit.
- [17:21]
Stephen A. Smith
This is why people gotta be careful about messing with you, because I was getting ready to disagree with you until you threw out those last. I didn't know he tried to go to the Oscars. I didn't know he tried to be on the COVID of. I didn't know that stuff, Candace. I honestly didn't know. Okay, that does change it a little bit.
- [17:37]
Candace Owens
He is a literal actor, by the way. You know that, right?
- [17:39]
Stephen A. Smith
That. I know that. I know that. I know what. I will say this. So any sympathy for the fact that Russia did attack his nation? I mean, that there is some sympathy for that. Right? We see the rubble, we see the catastrophe that is Ukraine. We see Putin bombing them, for crying out. We've seen that happen. Right?
- [17:53]
Candace Owens
Yeah. So the thing for me is, and the reason why I say that I've been. I've had this opinion since the very beginning is I don't rely on politicians. I think all politicians lie. And so I was reading the transcripts leading up to this moment of Putin's speeches and Biden speeches and trying to discern what the truth was. And Putin was saying, you guys gave us assurances that NATO was not going to expand 1 inch eastward into our territory. Essentially, NATO is a military. We were putting a military on his border despite in 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down as a condition, an agreement for them to agree to take down the Berlin Wall. We promised. And you can go look at this in NSA declassified documents. James Baker was. Was the Secretary of State at that time.
- [18:36]
Stephen A. Smith
Yes, he was.
- [18:37]
Candace Owens
We promised them that we would never move NATO eastward. So you have to imagine the memory that they have, and they're going, why are you now doing that? Now, all of a sudden we're saying that Ukraine is going to join NATO. And he's saying, this is unacceptable. America can't keep changing its mind. And so when I was able to validate what he said and to read the speeches, you cannot walk away from that without an understanding that we are the aggressors. Everything that we say Russia is doing, recreating the Soviet Union, we are doing that. What is the European Union? What is NATO? And we've been getting away for it for too long under this guise of, quote, unquote, spreading democracy. So I fundamentally disagreed with what I saw as Western propagand trying to paint Putin as a monster for holding us to our promises and not telling the public that he just randomly woke up one day and just said, I want to do hood rat stuff with my friends, and he went into Ukraine. That's a fairy tale. That's not what happened. And beyond that, like you saw when he sat down with Tucker Carlson, he asked to join NATO himself. Why are we not having a productive relationship with Russia? I call that Cold War hangover. People that grew up under their desks afraid of a nuclear bomb can never see Russia outside of being villainous. And quite frankly, I think Zelensky is a. He suspended elections, he's locked down churches, he's locked up nuns. I'm a Christian. I don't like this guy at all. Just don't like him.
- [20:02]
Stephen A. Smith
That's Candace Owens being quite honest. I get that part. Let me transition to you specifically. Get to the real reason I wanted you on this podcast first. Before I even get into that, I want to ask you. I know your voice is very, very powerful. For those of you who don't know, top 10 on Spotify, I mean, you're one of the top podcasters in the nation, if not the world. I know everybody tries to listen to you, and they should, because you are not an idiot. You know what the hell you're talking about. And you can challenge anybody, and I give you credit for that. I gotta ask, however, though, leading up to the election, your voice was far more conspicuous in the past, over the last several years than it was right before the election. Am I wrong in saying that? And if I'm writing saying that, why was that?
- [20:47]
Candace Owens
Yeah, so there were some life changes, obviously. I was pretty publicly fired, so there was a lot of things that I was just doing, trying to start my own business and to get back onto the airwaves. But going back to what I said earlier, I have had sort of a fatigue with politics. You know, I was quite bored, really, with the same arguments. I need a little bit of a challenge. And for me, I just. I like people to argue things honestly. Whatever your opinion is, it's totally fine. But just let's argue honestly and not use all the same rhetoric. And so to be this far into this is like the third time Trump is running and we're seeing the same thing. Oh, everyone who supports him is a racist, is a sexist. I'm just bored, you know, And I've always, by the way, been very passionate about culture, vaccines. I'm also a mom now. So in the beginning I wasn't, I was married, I had no children. Now my interests have naturally shifted since becoming a parent. And so I think people are seeing more sides of me. And in many ways I'm growing up publicly and it's been refreshing, you know, refreshing, kind of take people on the journey and to show people that I'm not just a Trump supporter, which the media did a very good job of painting that caricature of me.
- [21:54]
Stephen A. Smith
You don't think that's an act? You don't think that's an, I don't want to call it a caricature, but you don't think that's an accurate description of you as being a Trump supporter?
- [22:00]
Candace Owens
No, I am a Trump supporter, but I'm not just a Trump supporter. And I think in the beginning they kind of made it seem like I was always angry, always talking bad about black people, which is like any person that listens to my podcast, white people get it 10 times worse. But the media will only pluck a clip when I'm, I'm speaking about a black issue. And then it's, oh, there she is again, saying stuff about black people. They did a very good job of conditioning, I would say, the public, just via the mainstream media and flashy headlines, to think that I had, like, they called me a self hating black person. It was completely wild. It was out of, it was out of control.
- [22:34]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, listen, this is the thing, and this is the thing that gets me in trouble because obviously me being a black man, me being a centrist, sort of center left as opposed to center right, I've been one that was inclined to vote Democratic, you know, at least for the presidency, for the vast majority of my life. If it was anybody other than Trump, I think I would have voted conservative. This time around, I'm sort of becoming even more enlightened. I'm going to use that word because I was so disgusted with the left and what I saw, my patience has run thin at times. And then I've listened to you over the years and one of the things that I didn't like is like what you just described, what people would say about you. And I'm saying, well, wait a minute, is she wrong? What is she saying? That you disagree? How come you can't say you disagree with and make your points as to why, like she does, as opposed to just attacking her. Which brings me to my next question. What's it like being a black conservative in America? Nobody better ask this question than you.
- [23:31]
Candace Owens
Honestly, it's a hell of a lot easier than it was when I first got into this back in 2015, because people. That was the first time they saw Trump, and people just could not see past. How could this possibly happen? I think the media had a stronger hold on people's minds then than it does now. Now we've seen the explosion of independent media. People are able to get their voices out outside of the New York Times and Sien and Fox News, and that's helped tremendously to defeat all of these media caricatures that are being created. But I find it now, it's pioneering, to put it in a nice way, and I think it's the most rewarding thing ever. When what I have found is that if you just stand for truth, even in the beginning, when it's really hard and people say terrible things about you, and I've been called everything you could possibly imagine, then there's that moment, even if it takes years, where they do come back and they say, you were right, particularly about blm. I mean, I was hitting the drum about the finances so early, and I'm going this. Like. I'm not saying that you don't have feelings about this thing, but I am telling you something else is going on, and this is not. This is going to harm the black community. In the end, this money is just going to be zapped out of communities, and communities are going to be destroyed. And then when that was proven right, it was so refreshing to hear people say, yeah, we kind of hated her for a really long time. We're kind of saying this for a really long time. And then, you know, the fraud of Patrice Colors and what they were doing with the money, and so my brain just works differently. I am different, and I'm happy being different. I don't want to be the same. But I also do respect. I think I've learned in the process as well, is to just respect where people are at. You know, I wasn't. My sisters did not like where I was at when I started.
- [25:06]
Stephen A. Smith
How many sisters do you have? How many. How many sisters do you have?
- [25:09]
Candace Owens
I have two sisters, and they're like my. They're my best friends. So one is a year older, one's a year younger. So I grew up. We're like a trio.
- [25:15]
Stephen A. Smith
So they sandwiches, they sandwich you. They would get you, and they sandwich you, huh?
- [25:19]
Candace Owens
Well, they just didn't really care. To me, that's. Candace. I've always been different, you know, and they didn't know what I was on or what I was thinking. And now this last election, they voted for Trump, which is crazy. Like, that mean they were fully on the left and they just sort of saw it. And so it's just been cool to see that. And they now like my podcast. Before, they didn't even listen to it, but we always had. I grew up, obviously, in a. Not obviously, but my family has a great sense of humor. And that was one of the worst things I hated about BLM is that I've always thought that black people, culturally, like, we're, like, we're the funniest. We're the funniest. You always want to go listen to Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, and you saw that removal where everything was just taken so seriously. We're so easily offended. And I hated that. I thought the best parts of what the black culture represented to me growing up was removed. And for me, my sisters, they never cared. Like, I'd be like, can you watch my cat? I have to go to a Trump thing. And my sister would be like, oh, are you going to another one of your Klansmen rallies? Like, yeah, I'll watch your cat. You know, it's always a joke.
- [26:20]
Stephen A. Smith
Yeah. And I get it. And I guess for me, because I think about. And I remember when you showed up, I believe it was in Paris, you were with Kanye west and you were wearing the White Lives Matter, White Lives Matter shirt and what have you. And I said, damn. And I was upset. I was actually upset at you. And here's why, Candace. Because I looked at it and I said, no, don't give the ammunition. Don't give the ammunition. You can sit up there and you can talk to folks about your views, what you know, and educate folks without them being closed minded because they saw something and visualize something and automatically deemed that you were against us as a people. So, I mean, as you reflect on a moment like that and you talk about the black community and politics, how do you feel? How do you gauge what's the right thing to do and what's not the right thing to do?
- [27:07]
Candace Owens
You know, for me, the discussion and polite discussion, it doesn't work. I have found that you can go back and watch me on stage with T.I. and Killer Mike. And it doesn't work with the black community. And I have a theory on this. And I think partially it's because we have this. This instance of father absence that we. There's a lot of attitudes. There's a lot of attitudes, and if you try to come politely, you're just gonna get disrespected. And so in terms of the White Lives Matter shirt, First off, Kanye. That's how he communicates. He communicates with art. That's like, this was Kanye's thing that I was stepping into, But I understood what he was saying there because he is someone that does not like. No one puts Kanye in the corner. No one tells Kanye what he has to be. And so when you start saying, well, I'm going to superimpose you just being a black victim on someone like Kanye West. And, you know, he hated when white people would come up to him and say, black lives matter. So he's like, okay, you want to patronize me? Let me patronize you. Your life matters, too. Oh, yeah. Like, white lives matter, too. And I want you to know that white lives matter. Your life matters. He never liked that. Yeah, the patronization of it. And so I. And I felt the same way, and we communicate differently. I usually am using more bombastic words, but that moment, to me, especially as someone who grew up and really, Kanye's music kind of gave me the courage to be myself, to not have to be an archetype of what a black woman should be. It was a moment for me that I reflect on very fondly. And, yeah, it broke the Internet, and it started a lot of conversations. But imagine if black people were just like, yeah, every time I saw a white person, I'm with you. White life matters. It's just. There's something about it I just don't like. It wasn't for me you brought up.
- [28:45]
Stephen A. Smith
The use of bombastic words. You used that with George Floyd as well, who was murdered by a police officer in Minnesota. And obviously, a lot of people in the black community had a real problem with you as it pertained to that. That brings me to this question. When you take these positions, does it enter your mind. I don't want to use the word vitriol because I think that's a bit too strong, and that's unfair to you, and I don't want to do that. But when you consider the fact that so many people in the black community have voted Democratic since the civil rights legislation in 1964, remember what Lyndon B. Johnson said. You know, you pass this legislation, and we'll have the Negroes vote for us for the next 200 years, remember that statement? I know. I remember that statement. I'm wondering, because of your knowledge of politics, your obvious knowledge of the issues, when you speak on these things and you take positions about. You take such positions, particularly if it's antithetical or the antithesis of what the black community will point to do you think about it and do so on purpose because, dare I say, you're disgusted with us as a community for being hoodwinked by the Democratic Party. In your eyes, is that possible?
- [29:53]
Candace Owens
So that's a very good question. And disgusted would not be the right term for it. Frustrated, yes. And constantly trying to give people the facts so that they understand that we. Lyndon Baines Johnson was an avowed racist and he hated us. And yet we are doing everything that he wanted us to do. We are reacting emotionally and not rationally. We seem to be a stereotype of irrationality. Actually, all we have to do is make them feel something and they won't react. And I want to be clear, it's not just Black Americans. The MeToo movement was another manifestation of that very. You know, that's why I'm doing this Harvey Weinstein series. But what really does upset me about the black community is that the manner in which we defend criminals, you will not find this in any other community. Okay, so black, white, white person gets shot, killed, unarmed. They're not coming out. White people are not coming out and burning down their own neighborhoods. Right? They're going to be.
- [30:48]
Stephen A. Smith
Did you see the black community attack me for going off about OJ Being celebrated? Did you see that?
- [30:53]
Candace Owens
Yeah. Yeah, it is. They conditioned us to actually defend the worst in our communities. They just would let it go. You think Chinese people are going to run outside if they're like, well, listen, this guy was high on fentanyl. He got into brush up with police officers and he died. Chinese people will be like, especially Asian. Asian moms are just dead serious. They'd be like, you idiot. You know, good for you. So you're. You're an embarrassment. Never come home. This is how Asian women are. They have a standard. You think Jewish people are coming outside and going to, you know, rally around? No. They all know that. They think of that as like a natural process. We don't want to associate with that. And we have the exact opposite mindset. And when I say the exact opposite, I mean also the reverse of that being that the most educated and the most accomplished people in our community in terms of their intellect, we reject. How can we ever get ahead, Right? Oh, Condoleezza Rice. No, she's a traitor. She's Uncle Tom. Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice. He's a traitor. He's an Uncle Tom. Dr. Ben Carson, a literal brain surgeon. Black people will call him stupid. It's crazy. So there's no way black America can get ahead with that, with that backwards mindset where you put George Floyd on a T shirt and you denigrate and disrespect someone like Clarence Thomas. I'm just not with it.
- [32:10]
Stephen A. Smith
You know, you got a new platform called Club Candace, and I'm wondering how important is you? I know it's you're going to speak your truth. You have proven that time and time and time again. Okay, but in the process of doing so, as you have this new platform, how important is it for you, if at all, to reach and resonate with the black community or to really, really provoke change all across the board, particularly in the United States of America? Where do you lie with that?
- [32:39]
Candace Owens
Yeah, the number one thing is for me to reach people who want to hear the truth. And so that comes in all different shapes and sizes and colors. And our demographics have really changed. It's very mixed people all around the world. Like, I have, shockingly, I would say in Africa, they absolutely love me. I mean, like, the amount of Nigerians who listen to my podcast daily Uganda. So it's not a color thing. It's important for me to get information out that I don't think would otherwise be available. So with Club Candace, I have my vaccine series. I am, quote, unquote, anti vax. Don't vaccinate my children. And I want people to know why. I want people, especially if you want to talk about something black Americans should learn about, it's the vaccine industry. We were targeted what was sent over to Africa to experiment and make people infertile. Hispanic women, Native Americans, and black Americans were experimented on. And this is the stuff that matters. And so also, obviously, the book club to introduce him to the books that I read outside of the school system, that kind of helped forge my. A lot of my opinions, a lot of my political opinions. And so that's really fun that we meet every two weeks. And so it's. You're just getting kind of whatever goes on in this headquarters of crazy, it's all happening at Club Candace.
- [33:50]
Stephen A. Smith
Make them a sandwich. Why Real Women Don't Need Fake Feminism. Explain that title, please.
- [33:55]
Candace Owens
We just need to destroy the feminist movement. It's just so toxic. And I think that on the heels of Kamala's loss and you know this, women are unhappy because they're being told to compete with men. We are not like men. We are not built like men. Biologically, mentally, physically. We are just not men. And the idea that to be equal in society, I have to have the same aspirations as a man is going to be something that makes women chronically unhappy, which is what we're dealing with today and learning the real history of feminism. And I'm mimicking Gloria Steinem. A famed photo of her, who was actually a CIA operative will wake people up to the fact that these decisions that you're being that are being told to you of, like, yes, feminist movement was amazing. Was the CIA looking for a way to tax households two ways? And it has not led to the enriching of the households. It has not led to the enriching of our life experiences. And the biggest joys in my life are being able to be at home with my children and my husband. And I'm just tired of being told that that makes me somehow backwards. We gotta defend men.
- [34:57]
Stephen A. Smith
Yeah, there you go. Hey, listen, I'm not complaining. I'm not complaining about that. Not even a little bit. All right? You recently interviewed former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein from prison. Why did you want to talk to him? And what was the most surprising thing you got from it?
- [35:12]
Candace Owens
I have been a hater of the MeToo movement since day one. I. Even before I had sons and now I have three, I knew that we need due process. And watching men lose their entire lives on the basis of an allegation, I mean, I could have literally ruined your life, Stephen. I could have been like, he touched my hand at that Knicks game, and I remember this and cry. You've been done. Canceled over forever. And that's wrong. Okay? Because women lie. Men lie. Women lie. Facts don't lie, and we need due process. And so the Harvey Weinstein case, someone brought it to me and said, take a look at it. And I actually thought he was guilty when I first got on the phone with him in prison. And we're totally on different sides of the political spectrum. But a friend had reached out and said, I think you'll be the only person that will actually take a look at this and tell the truth. And I just always been committed to telling the truth. And it is my belief, and I think that once I show the public the facts of this case, that Harvey Weinstein was wrongfully convicted, and his case just got overturned in New York, as it should have, and now it's being sent back down in the appellate courts. You got. So it's got to be retried. And I just want the. We got to go back to the beginning. We got to put this genie back into the bottle and back into the me too bottle. And it all begins with Harvey Weinstein. And so I'm really excited about bringing that series forward.
- [36:21]
Stephen A. Smith
Got you. Before I let you get on out of here. You know, my producers in my issue, mispronounced come Kamala Harris's name twice. I want to make sure you didn't do that on purpose. You didn't do that.
- [36:28]
Candace Owens
I just don't know. What is it? Is it Kamala or Kamala?
- [36:31]
Stephen A. Smith
Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris.
- [36:33]
Candace Owens
That's what I said. I said Kamala.
- [36:35]
Stephen A. Smith
That's right. I'm just. Well, don't worry about it. It's okay. It's all right. You said Kamala, but don't worry about it.
- [36:39]
Candace Owens
Send her to me. She's got an issue.
- [36:40]
Stephen A. Smith
I got you. Listen, I know you got to go. Thank you for your time. I just want to say one thing to you. I've interviewed a lot of liberals on this show. I'm telling the conservatives they're welcomed on the show, too. If I'm wrong, correctly, if I'm right, agree with me. I have. No, I'm not in this game. Contrary to what they've been writing about it. I like being fair minded and giving everybody an equal platform to express themselves. And I appreciate you taking the time to come on the show. I really thank you for it and you're welcome back on the show anytime. Thank you so much.
- [37:09]
Candace Owens
I would love to come back. Like I said, this feels so full circle to me, from the high five to this. So thank you so much.
- [37:15]
Stephen A. Smith
Works for me. You take care of yourself. All the best. I want to get in to what we just heard from Candace Owens. Okay, be clear. I'm fully aware. You heard her comments about Kanye. You heard her answering my question. You heard the way she answered my question about George Floyd. The primary reason I wanted her on this show was because I was curious as to how she felt as a black conservative, particularly as it pertained to black people. Because of the vitriol that I've seen aimed in her direction. Are there times where I feel that she's a bit abrasive? Absolutely. Are there times that I feel she's that way unnecessarily so, yeah. Even she acknowledged she just don't have time. A mother of three expecting a fourth kid, preoccupied with a lot of things that occupy ourselves in life, and she don't have patience and tolerance for nonsense and games. That's how she feels. Everybody has their feelings. We have a right to disagree. And again, when we have a lengthier discussion, I will most certainly be a bit more probing and challenging. This wasn't the time for that. My first time meeting her, my first time talking to her. I wanted to hear what she had to say, and I wanted to hear the perspective that she provided to the masses out there and how unapologetic she is in doing so. I got that, and I appreciate it. Because here's what I want everybody to understand, and I want us to understand that we'll never get far until we learn to do this. No matter what our emotional state of mind is, no matter how turned off we might be over the things that people say in a manner in which they say it. Yes, it's true. Every truth ain't meant to be heard. Yes, it's true. Sometimes it is about the way you say something instead of what you're just saying. But far more often than not, the truth is supposed to usurp everything. And when that young lady speaks, don't even think about challenging her intelligence. Don't even think about challenging her ability to articulate her point of view. You better know what the hell you're talking about when you come at her. That's what I take away just as much as anything else. I can't wait until she and I sit face to face one day and volley back and forth about what we feel, what we believe, what we stand for and why. Because I'm certainly different than her when it comes to some political positions she has taken and beyond. There is no doubt about that. But I can't deny she's sharp as a tack. And you damn well better be if you gonna come for her. Because, ladies and gentlemen, like it or not, Candace Owens, she's not going anywhere. Even when you thought she was gone. She's around number eight on Spotify's list of podcasts and climbing. And she's in her 30s. She's not going away. No matter what summer you want, she's not going away. Deal with that. If not, I get the impression she will make you. Check engine light on. Take the guesswork out of your Check.
- [41:26]
Candace Owens
Engine light with O'Reilly Variscan.
- [41:28]
Stephen A. Smith
It's free. Ask for O'Reilly Variscan today. Oh, oh, oh, O'Reilly Auto Park.
- [41:37]
Greg Rosenthal
What's up, everyone? It's Greg Rosenthal, and I'm teaming up with the King of spring, Daniel Jeremiah. He requires me to say that we're going to be bringing you 40s and free agents, the only podcast you'll need this NFL draft season. From DJs mock drafts to my top 101, free agents will have it covered for you with all new episodes every Thursday keeping you up to date as we head to the NFL Draft Listen to 40s and free agents starting on March 6th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.