Candace Owens Accused of Spouting Soviet Propaganda With WW2 Comment

Candace Owens has been accused by social media users of pushing “Soviet Russian propaganda” after weighing in on bombings in Japan and Germany during World War II.

The conservative commentator spoke out on X, formerly Twitter, this week as former Fox News host Tucker Carlson faced criticism for questioning the morality of the U.S. bombing the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, as civilians were among the casualties.

As Carlson received criticism from conservatives for his comments, Owens—who herself has faced backlash for speaking out against Israel’s military campaign on Gaza amid its ongoing war with Hamas—supported his stance.

She also commented on the bombing of Dresden, Germany, during the war. “What happened in Dresden was, is and will always be a war crime,” Owens wrote. “You’re a sick person if you believe that innocent women and children and refugees deserved to be incinerated because of a government that the overwhelming majority of them didn’t even vote for.”

Newsweek has contacted a representative of Owens for comment via email.

In an interview with Joe Rogan released on April 19, Carlson disagreed with the views of many on the right that the U.S.’s use of atomic bombs was justified. “I love, by the way, that people on my side—I’ll just admit it, on the right—have spent the last 80 years defending dropping nuclear weapons on civilians,” Carlson said. “It’s like, are you joking? That’s just like prima facie evil.”

Dismissing the oft-employed argument that the bombings saved lives and brought a swift end to the war, the TV personality added: “No, it’s wrong to drop nuclear weapons on people. And if you find yourself arguing that it’s a good thing to drop nuclear weapons on people, then you are evil. It’s not a tough one. It’s not a hard call.”

On April 22, Owens defended Carlson’s stance, writing on X, “Tucker derangement syndrome is real.” She went on to share a pair of quotes, including one from former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was the supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force during World War II.

“Japan was at the moment seeking some way to surrender with minimum loss of ‘face.’ It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing,” Eisenhower is quoted as saying of the bombings.

“Needless to say every American has a right to evaluate whether the drastic measure of dropping a nuke on a non-military target in a country that had been on the defense for two years (plus negotiating their surrender) was necessary,” Owens continued. “You may ultimately conclude it was or wasn’t not—but your right to think critically and express your views is about as American as it gets.”

Owens, who recently announced that she has converted to Catholicism, also weighed in on the bombings from a religious perspective.

“Will also add here some Christian historical facts: In Nagasaki, the bomb was dropped 300 yards from a Catholic Church—Urakami cathedral,” she wrote in a separate post. “Nagasaki was the epicenter of Japanese Catholicism, home to the second largest cathedral in the East.

“Church was in session when the bomb was dropped,” she continued. “Of the approximately 12,000 Christians living there at the time, 8,500 were killed, including several dozen parishioners and two Catholic priests, who were hearing confessions in the cathedral that morning. Very few military men were killed—the overwhelming majority of victims were women and children.”

In an X post that has received more than 6 million views, Owens wrote in the same vein of the bombing of Dresden, Germany.

“Did you know that when Dresden was incinerated back in 1945, it was Ash Wednesday?” she said. “Christians were burned alive on Ash Wednesday—many of them were refugees from Stalin’s Christian Holocaust. Christians will no longer be told that we aren’t allowed to know or discuss our history.”

The post was fact-checked by a community note, which is a blurb below a post that gives readers added context and typically disputes an X user’s claims.

Citing sources that included the National World War II Museum, the community note said: “Dresden was bombed over the course of several days, February 13-15, 1945, as part of the ongoing Allied campaign against Nazi Germany. Ash Wednesday was February 14. This tweet (along with others) baselessly imply Allies specifically targeted Christians for bombing.”

Owens, a former Daily Wire personality, received criticism from a number of other X users over her posts.

“Boy it sure is weird how Candace Owens suddenly cares so deeply about Christians who died in World War II, except only Christians who died in Axis countries for, some reason,” one user wrote. “How strange. I can’t figure out why Christians in Japan and Germany matter but Christians in the UK don’t.”

Another user referenced Owens’ post about the bombing of Dresden while disputing the suggestion that the World War II attack was a war crime.

“Every now & then some sanctimonious a*** will pop up in my mentions to claim Allied WW2 bombing of Germany was a war-crime (usually then to falsely accuse Israel of war-crimes),” the user commented. “The accusation specifically about Dresden was Soviet Russian propaganda. Owens pushing that now.”

Another X user partially agreed with Owens, writing: “Candace Owens is right. The bombing of Dresden was a war crime. However, dropping the A-bomb on Japan was not a war crime. And Israel accidentally killing civilians which Hamas hides behind, is not a war crime either, as she is going to insinuate.”

“I’m just glad you have enough moral clarity to admit that what happened in Dresden was a sinister war crime,” Owens responded. “I would debate any person on the absurd notion that dropping nukes (months AFTER German surrender) on civilian cities in a country that had been on defensive retreat for two years was somehow necessary to win the war.”

“I’m not clear on your point about Israel as it has nothing to do with the discussion at hand, which is in the public conscience due to Tucker’s conversation with Joe Rogan,” she added.

Owens also shared a British newspaper clipping from the time of the Dresden bombing that said some 600,000 refugees who had fled the Bolsheviks were living in the Saxony city ahead of the attack.

Commenting on a video clip in which a British veteran spoke of Dresden, Owens criticized the “psychopaths that believe firebombing civilians is perfectly permissible and ought to be repeated again,” calling them “Satanists.”

“Only a satanic psychopath would try to fool you into believing that incinerating civilians in non-military cities is somehow necessary,” she added.

While Owens was criticized for her comments, she also received support for her statements.

“The firebombing of Dresden was one of the most horrific acts of destruction in WW2,” one user wrote. “The trauma was so great the woman interviewed in this video is STILL ready to cry 70 years later. May we all awaken to the horror of war and bring Peace to all mankind in our lifetimes.”

Another wrote, “As much as I hate Nazism and believe our cause against Hitler was just, the firebombing of Dresden was an evil war crime.”

“I’m noticing a trend of keyboard warriors that have never worn the uniform or served in combat that are very pro-atomic bomb. Fools,” a commenter added. “You’re spot on, Candace.”