Candace Owens
Right-wing commentator; explicit anti-Zionist widely accused of antisemitism
Once “seemingly a supporter of Israel,” Owens turned sharply after October 7, 2023, calling Zionism “an evil… supremacist ideology.” She is the entry’s clearest live example of the “‘Zionist’ as a code-word” flashpoint: she frames her position as anti-Zionism and criticism of Israel, while the ADL, AJC, and her former employer Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire assess it as antisemitism recoded as anti-Zionism (Epstein/Mossad “blackmail,” “synagogue of Satan,” Jewish “control”).
What happened
After criticizing Israel’s conduct in Gaza, Owens escalated into conspiratorial claims about Jewish and Israeli power; The Daily Wire severed ties in March 2024. She continued on her own show, calling Zionism an “evil… supremacist ideology” and alleging Israeli “blackmail” behind U.S. policy.
an evil… supremacist ideology (Owens on Zionism, Oct 2025)
Under each definition
She denounces Zionism and rejects the label.
She calls Zionism “evil” and opposes the Jewish state.
She opposes Israel, though via conspiracy rather than the academic colonial frame.
Her “synagogue of Satan” rhetoric is antisemitic theology, not a religious conception of Zionism.
The case that they're a Zionist
Nothing on the pro-label side — she is an explicit and vehement anti-Zionist.
The case against / their own view
She rejects Zionism entirely; the real dispute is not whether she is a Zionist but whether her “anti-Zionism” is a vehicle for antisemitism — which the ADL, AJC, Dennis Prager, and Ben Shapiro argue it is, and which she denies as an attempt to silence debate.
In their words
it seems like our country [the US] is being held hostage by Israel.
Owens often presents antisemitic conspiracy theories disguised as the language of legitimate political critique, framing them as attacks on “Zionism,” foreign policy, or media bias.
a top global broadcaster of conspiratorial antisemitism and anti-Zionism.
The verdicts above are how each definition would most likely classify this person — illustrative guidance, not official rulings. The lenses diverge most on the difference between a self-label and a substantive commitment, and between “Zionism” meaning a Jewish homeland versus a Jewish state. See the Definition tab for each definition’s full text. Inclusion is documentation, not a finding.