Candace Owens "Hitler Was a Nationalist" Controversy

Overview

Candace Owens "Hitler Was a Nationalist" Controversy refers to a series of remarks made by conservative activist and Turning Point Director of Communications Candace Owens about nationalism in regards to actions of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. When the comments resurfaced in February 2019, they sparked an online outrage against Owens, particularly due to the interpretation that her words that "Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, OK, fine."

Background

On December 11th, 2018, Turning Point leaders Candace Owens and Charlie Kirk spoke at the RAC Club in London for the founding of Turning Point's United Kingdom chapter. Responding to a question, she discussed nationalism and in regards to Hitler. At which point, she seemed to imply that Hitler's mistake was that he globalized his beliefs, spreading them outside of Germany. Hitler was responsible for one history's largest genocides, accounting for the systematic murder of millions of Jews, homosexuals, people with disabilities and more.^[1][2] She said:

"I actually don’t have any problems at all with the word ‘nationalism.' I think that the definition gets poisoned by elitists that actually want globalism. Globalism is what I don’t want… Whenever we say nationalism, the first thing people think about, at least in America, is Hitler. He was a national socialist, but if Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, OK, fine.

The problem is that he wanted, he had dreams outside of Germany. He wanted to globalize. He wanted everybody to be German, everybody to be speaking German. Everybody to look a different way," she said. "To me, that’s not nationalism. In thinking about how we could go bad down the line, I don’t really have an issue with nationalism. I really don’t.

Developments

Online Reaction

On February 8th, 2019, Twitter ^[3] @existentialfish tweeted a snippet of the response. the post received more than 1,200 retweets and 3,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

That day, people reacted with outrage to Owens' comments as "Candace Owens" trended on Twitter with more than 22,000 tweets. Twitter^[4] user @nathTbernard tweeted, "Last year, Twitter publicly apologized to Candace Owens for labeling her "far-right". Great work as usual, @jack." He included screenshots of the two controversies. The tweet received more than 100 retweets and 300 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left).

Columnist Jamelle Bouie shared a tweet^[5] by @dril and compared the post to Owens. The post received more than 140 retweets and 1,100 likes in 24 hours (shown below, center).

Turning Point staffer Richard Amande Mills defended Owens. He tweeted,^[6] "Candace Owens would never endorse Hitler. Her words are intentionally being taken out of context. This disgusting smear attempt against her is indicative of the left's gross hypocrisy. She's trending worldwide while a U.S. Governor pictured in black-face or a klan hood is not." The tweet received more than 15 retweets and 35 likes (shown below, right).

Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton tweeted,^[7] "Hitler’s 'make Germany great' included more than 400 regulations that stripped German Jews of their ability to work, go to school, vote, own property, seek care in public hospitals & enter 'Aryan' zones. All before the Holocaust. In 1943, Germany celebrated being 'free of Jews.'" The tweet received more than 1,700 retweets and 5,300 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left).

Owens responded to one of Clinton's responses to the post. She wrote,^[8] "Don’t you ever in your miserable life have the audacity to tweet at someone who educating blacks on the nasty, racist, harmful 'evil regime' policies inflicted by your soulless mother and father. There will be a #BLEXIT. And your trash parents will be alive to witness it." The tweet received more than 2,600 retweets and 8,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, center).

Clinton replied,^[9] "Hi Candace – I wish you a life full of love, health & happiness. I love my parents. I’m also not my parents. Hope you have a wonderful rest of Friday & a great weekend. And, here is a helpful resource from @HolocaustMuseum." Within 24 hours, the tweet received more than 900 retweets and 6,000 likes (shown below, right).

That day, Redditor ^[15] Snakebite7 posted a mock Turning Point advertisement using Owens' comments in the /r/ChapoTrapHouse subreddit (shown below).

Owens' Response

That day, Owens published a video on Twitter discussing Hitler and nationalism. In the video, she claims that her words were taken out of context.^[10] In the video, she says that there is no excuse for Hitler's behavior.

Media Coverage

Several media outlets covered the controversy, including BuzzFeed, ^[1] The Daily Beast,^[11] The Hill^[12] HuffPost,^[13] Washington Post^[14] and more.

Search Interest

External References