Candace Owens facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Candace Owens
Owens in 2022
Born	Candace Amber Owens (1989-04-29) April 29, 1989 (age 34) White Plains, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Political commentator author
Years active	2017–present
Television	Candace
Political party	Republican
Movement	Black conservative movement
Spouse(s)	George Farmer ​ (m. 2019)​
Children	3
Relatives	Michael Farmer (father-in-law)

Candace Amber Owens Farmer (née Owens; born April 29, 1989) is an American conservative political commentator, author, activist, and television presenter. She gained prominence for her conservative views and outspoken commentary on various social and political issues.

Early life and education

Born in White Plains, New York, Owens was raised with her siblings in Stamford, Connecticut, by her grandparents from around the age of 11 or 12, after her parents divorced. She is the third of four children. She said her paternal grandfather Robert Owens, a black American, was born in North Carolina. Owens is also of Caribbean American heritage through her grandmother who is originally from Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. She is a graduate of Stamford High School.

Owens pursued an undergraduate degree in journalism at the University of Rhode Island. She dropped out after her junior year because of an issue with her student loan. Afterwards, she worked as an intern for Vogue magazine in New York. In 2012, Owens took a job as an administrative assistant for a private equity firm in Manhattan, later moving up to become its vice president of administration.

Early career

Degree180 and anti-conservative blog

In 2015, Owens was CEO of Degree180, a marketing agency that offered consultation, production, and planning services which included a blog on a variety of topics written by Owens and other commentators. In a 2015 column that Owens wrote for the site, she criticized conservative Republicans, writing about the "crazy antics of the Republican Tea Party"; she also added that "The good news is, they will eventually die off (peacefully in their sleep, we hope), and then we can get right on with the OBVIOUS social change that needs to happen, IMMEDIATELY."

Privacy violation, Gamergate, and political transformation

Owens launched SocialAutopsy.com in 2016, a website she said would expose bullies on the Internet by tracking their digital footprint. The site would have solicited users to take screenshots of offensive posts and send them to the website, where they would be categorized by the user's name. She used crowdfunding on Kickstarter for the website. The proposal was immediately controversial, drawing criticism that Owens was de-anonymizing (doxing) Internet users and violating their privacy. Kickstarter suspended funding for Social Autopsy, and the website was never created.

Conservative activism

In April 2020, Owens announced her intention to either run for office in the U.S. Senate or to be a governor, and that she would only run against an incumbent Democrat, not a Republican. She did not reveal which specific office she would run for, or in which election cycle. Owens later announced she would be joining The Daily Wire and would be hosting her own show. Her podcast Candace premiered on the platform on March 19, 2021. Its episodes are filmed in front of a live studio audience and air weekly. Notable guests include former United States president Donald Trump, UFC president Dana White, and U.S. Representative Jim Jordan. In February 2021, Owens tweeted that she was considering a run for president in 2024.

BLEXIT Foundation

"Blexit", a term originally coined by Me'Lea Connelly, is a portmanteau of "black" and "exit" that mimics Brexit, the word used to describe the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. The original Blexit movement was started in 2016 by Connelly with the goal of achieving black economic independence by encouraging black Americans to leave the traditional financial systems that have historically disadvantaged the black community.

In late 2018, Owens launched a different BLEXIT foundation, which featured a social media campaign to encourage ethnic minorities, including African Americans and Latinos, to leave the Democratic Party and register as Republicans. At the time, 8% of black Americans identified as Republicans. In 2023, Blexit foundation merged with Turning Point USA, the former non-profit organization for which Owens had worked.

At the launch in October 2018, Owens said that her "dear friend and fellow superhero Kanye West" designed merchandise for the movement; the following day, West denied being the designer and disavowed the effort, saying: "I never wanted any association with Blexit ... I've been used to spread messages I don't believe in." After an apology, West continued to support Owens as of September 2020^[update].

Political views

Owens speaking at the White House in 2019

Owens in 2019

Owens has been recognized for her pro-Trump activism. She is known for her criticism of Black Lives Matter and the Democratic Party.

Women's rights

Owens is critical of feminism and embraces the "trad wife" phenomenon of traditional gender roles.

Welfare

Owens has expressed a critical stance on welfare programs, arguing that they can create dependency and discourage self-reliance among recipients. She believes that welfare reform is necessary to promote individual responsibility and empower individuals to break free from government assistance. Owens has said that welfare is a Democratic Party tool to keep black Americans dependent upon the government.

Immigration

Owens is a proponent of the Mexico–United States barrier, and believes undocumented immigrants to the United States should be immediately deported.

Climate change

In July 2018, Owens claimed that global warming is not real, calling it a lie used to "extract dollars from Americans". In 2021, she promoted paid ads on Facebook, calling the U.S. government "modern doomsayers" who have been wrongly predicting climate crises for decades.

Personal life

Owens met her husband, George Farmer, in 2018 at the launch event for Turning Point UK, a conservative student organization. George Farmer, the son of Lord Farmer, was the chairman of Turning Point UK at the time. The two developed a connection through their shared conservative values and eventually started dating before George's proposal to her just weeks after their first meeting. The two became engaged in 2019 and were married in August that year at the Trump Winery in Charlottesville, Virginia. Numerous guests were present at the ceremony, including Larry Elder and Kanye West.

Since her marriage, Owens is now also (officially) known as The Hon. Mrs. George Farmer.

Owens gave birth to a boy in January 2021, and to a daughter in July 2022. On July 10, 2023, Owens publicly announced the pregnancy of her third child, a baby boy.

See also

In Spanish: Candace Owens para niños