Candace Owens speaks out against Donald Trump, claiming that he and his administration are suppressing free speech.
If you can believe it, you can add Candace Owens to the growing list of fervent Donald Trump supporters who are less than enthused about the 47th President of the United States. Picking a fight with Harvard may be a bridge too far, even for her.
In a clip from a recent episode of her podcast “Candace,” going viral online, the often controversial far-right-wing 35-year-old media personality is calling out Trump’s attacks on colleges and universities and what she sees as a blatant attack on free speech.
“I never thought that I would see a day where I would be rooting for a university above Donald J. Trump and his administration,” she said. “But I don’t recognize this administration right now. I don’t recognize what’s happening. I have a theory. I do.”
She said she and her team were kicking around some ideas earlier when she asked, “How could Trump be such a free speech enthusiast and be allowing these things to happen?”
“Going after college universities, trying to suppress speech while you’re telling [us] that you’re not suppressing speech while pretending that you’re fighting DEI,” she continued. “It’s so messy. It’s so obvious. Everyone knows what you’re doing.”
Owens, who gained attention in the late 2010s for criticizing liberal ideologies and civil rights movements like Black Lives Matter, has been a staunch supporter of Donald Trump until recently.
Referring to people in his administration and his inner circle, she said people who “are still trying to grift,” she supposes, aren’t willing to challenge him.
“Which is ridiculous, because when you are out of office, we are going to have to live with these consequences,” she said, adding, “Our children are going to have to grow up in this America.”
From her view, these threats against free speech are “not worth it” just for the President and his supporters to feel victorious. She even warned that once he leaves office and these new parameters remain, figures like Tucker Carlson or even she could be at risk of facing consequences for the things they say.
“Everyone can see what’s happening left and right,” she said.
Owens’ comments were inspired, in particular, by Trump’s ongoing battle against Harvard University over its refusal to comply with his administration’s demands. Last week, the historic institution filed a lawsuit against the administration’s move to freeze research funding unless they comply.
“The administration is trying to paint this as if they’re coming and fighting DEI on campus, and they’re not doing that,” she reiterated before breaking down the lawsuit and what specifically the administration is asking the university to change, including the autonomy they give certain student groups and clubs.
Owens took strong issue with how the administration wants to enforce vigilance around antisemitism, including restricting the autonomy of student groups and potentially even which foreign students can attend.
According to her, these same measures to protect certain students could have the opposite effect. “If you want people who are feeling threatened on campus because of the response that people are having to not feel like their rights are being infringed upon, maybe don’t infringe upon their rights to speech,” she said.