Who is Candace Owens?
That was the question on everyone’s mind after Kanye West shared his admiration for the Black conservative YouTube personality during a Tweeting spree on Saturday.
“I love the way Candace Owens thinks,” he tweeted.
The controversial figure, who many have called the next Tomi Lahren, is the creator of the Red Black Pill YouTube channel where she espouses views that push back on many on the political and ideological beliefs of Black America.
Owens was excited about the Kanye shoutout, saying that she hoped to work with him one day.
“I’m freaking out. @kanyewest,” she wrote “Please take a meeting with me. I tell every single person that everything that I have been inspired to do, was written in your music.”
She added: “I am my own biggest fan, because you made it okay. I need you to help wake up the black community.”
Here are five things to know about this Republican firebrand making waves within conservative America:
She Believes President Trump Is The ‘Savior’
Recently, Owens called President Donald Trump the “savior” of the free world. Yes, that happened.
She expressed her admiration for the president further in an interview with Breitbart: “I love the guy, I love him, because what he represented to me is the death of political correctness, and you have no idea how necessary that death is.
She Started As A YouTube Vlogger
Owens first caught the attention of many last year when she released a viral video declaring that she was a conservative, while also criticizing Black Lives Matter and the Charlottesville protests at the same time. Her channel, whose name riffs on “The Matrix,” includes videos with titles like “How to Escape the Democrat Plantation” and “Black Panther: A Pro-Trump Movie.”
She Has Called Black Lives Matter Supporters “Victims”
Most of what Owens espouses is controversial, but none more so than her comments on the Black Lives Matter movement. In a recent event at UCLA, she said that those who support Black Lives Matter have a “victim mentality.”
“I don’t know why people like being oppressed, it’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever heard,” she said. “Black people that are focused on their past and shouting about slavery and black people that are focused on their futures.”
When explaining her stance to Breitbart, she said that her goal is to to help black American discover freedom beyond the victim mentality.
She Has Been Embraced By The Pro-Trump Right-Wing Movement
Conservative America has embraced Owens’ brand of rhetoric with enthusiasm. She has appeared a number of times on Fox News and was even invited to speak about “fake news” at the February 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference.
According to Breitbart, Owens so impressed Charlie Kirk, the executive director of the right-wing Turning Point USA, that he offered her a job when they met in November 2017. She is now the director of urban engagement at Turning Point USA.
Owens is also working on starting a young black leadership summit for conservatives in November.
She Has Always Admired Kanye West
Owens appeared on Fox & Friends this Sunday, and she shared why she has always admired Kanye West.
“If you look at things historically, Kanye West has really represented the battering ram against political correctness,” she said.
”Long before Donald Trump came down the escalator, Kanye West was public enemy No. 1 for simply trying to tell the truth to people about things that were going on so I’m unsurprised that he supports me and my ideas and me just thinking freely.”