Conservative commentator Candace Owens is facing social media criticism after she testified before a congressional subcommittee that white supremacy would not make her list of 100 things impacting minority Americans.
Then hours later, a Department of Homeland Security report declared white supremacist violence a top threat Friday, according to several media reports.
Huffington Post senior reporter Andy Campbell described Owens as a joke in a tweet responding to the report.
“Candace Owens once again took the stage as a conservative puppet, declaring that white supremacy isn’t a problem,” he said. “Hours later, DHS released a report declaring the rise in white supremacist violence a top threat.
“Another embarrassment for Owens and Republican lawmakers.”
The House Oversight Joint Subcommittee hearing early Friday was aimed at combating white supremacy.
“Which based on the hierarchy of what’s impacting minority Americans, if I had to make a list of 100 things, white nationalism would not make the list.”
“If we’re going to have a hearing on white supremacy, we are assuming that the biggest victims of that are minority Americans,” Owens said. “And presumably this hearing would be to stop that and preserve the lives of minority Americans.
The comments inspired an array of opinions, but mostly critiques, on social media after the hearing.
Actress Constance Marie asked in a tweet for the GOP to vet the people they call to testify.
She cited a News-Time article that Owens, a Stamford High graduate, was paid a $37,500 settlement in a case regarding racist threats.
Right-winger Jack Posobiec tweeted: “Notice how it’s a hearing on the black community but the left brought in professors and an activist who are all white liberals, and @RealCandaceO is the only member of the black community represented. Why is that?”
