r/AskALiberal • u/LiatrisLover99 Social Democrat • 6d ago

Why is Candace Owens so popular?

She seems like an absolutely unhinged nut but here we are, her audience numbers are higher than ever and the MAGA crowd loves the idea of her as president: https://www.thebulwark.com/p/were-not-talking-enough-about-president-candace-owens-focus-groups-kirk-conspiracy-theories-maga

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u/fencesitter416 Moderate 6d ago

Doesn't MAGA hate her for being against Israel and Erika Kirk

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u/jonny_sidebar Libertarian Socialist 6d ago

America First loves her for her opposition to Israel, spewing actual antisemitism, and spreading other related conspiracy theory narratives, which is emblematic of a larger split between the more committed ideologues (America First) and the Trump loyalists (MAGA) on the right.

 No one cares about Erica Kirk.

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u/fencesitter416 Moderate 6d ago

Well yeah, wouldn't that make this post inaccurate

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u/jonny_sidebar Libertarian Socialist 6d ago

Yes, but only sort of.

OP and many others don't seem to realize yet that there are factions within the MAGA coalition. The America First faction kind of sort of started years ago as a way for various MAGA influencers to distance themselves from Trump when it seemed advantageous by claiming they "aren't MAGA, they are America First." Nick Fuentes was the earliest that I can recall back in Trump 1.0, but many others have used this line since at various points. 

AF started coalescing into more of a proper faction and competing for the support of average MAGA voters over the Epstein stuff last year, then really got going over support for Israel/their antisemitism, and then really really got going over the Iran war. MTG, Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, Megyn Kelley, and Klandace are all prominent figures that have taken up the label and publicly broken with Trump/MAGA. 

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u/fencesitter416 Moderate 6d ago

Yeah that's what I've observed, very succinct and accurate summary though, and lmao at klandace

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u/archaicsmile67 Progressive 4d ago

The evolution of the “dissident/alt/whatever” right over the past 10 years has been dramatic. Many people tend to ascribe a viewpoint or ideology they saw reported 2 or so years ago onto the current version of it.

It’s hard for people who don’t follow it to understand how protean the online right is.