But as the news turned toward Israel last year, Owens’s persona changed. After 7 October, she started referring to a “ring” or mafia of Jews operating in Hollywood and Washington. She discussed at length why history’s demonisation of Adolf Hitler ought to be reconsidered, and progressively questioned or denied elements of the Holocaust, referring to it as “an ethnic cleansing that almost took place” and calling historical evidence of horrific Nazi science experiments “bizarre propaganda”.

She fixated on Second World War history, claiming America should not have involved itself. She has also argued that Russia’s Bolsheviks were Jews building “Christian death camps”. Owens even said that ethnic Jews should have been held accountable.

When the online backlash swiftly followed, even from some of her former colleagues, it was a confirmation for Owens that she was questioning the right things. “What they didn’t want people to see is now being seen,” she wrote on X last month.

The absurdity in all this is hard to understate. Stalin, the murderous communist dictator who Owens claims was secretly Jewish, attended a Russian Orthodox seminary in his youth and actually planned to inflict genocide on the Jews before his death. He purged Jewish sections from the party early on. Elsewhere, she claims the Jewish Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is just another “Bolshevist dragging Christian men to the slaughter” by sending them off to war.

As Owens started to entertain these views publicly, her partnership with the Daily Wire ended. But many, on both the anti-Israel Right and Left, came to her defence, arguing that the outlet was trying to censor pro-Palestine voices. That claim has allowed Owens to maintain mainstream partnerships on her latest solo venture and her position as a headliner of prominent Right-wing conferences. Really, though, Candace Owens left the conservative movement months ago. After the fallout from her Daily Wire departure, it may only be a matter of time until more conservatives start leaving her.

This article was amended on 18 August 2024, removing a suggestion that Candace Owens was previously scheduled to headline a fundraising event for the Trump campaign.