Candace Owens (YouTube screen capture)

If you ever had any doubt that supporters of President Donald Trump are not the sharpest tools in the shed, check out some of the interviews done by Rebel HQ outside campaign rallies. It’s the usual barrage of fact-free opinions and branding any idea they don’t agree with as “fake news.” One Trump supporter rejected a Washington Post/ABC poll that showed black support for the president stood at 3 percent. He claimed the real number was 30 percent — because he heard it on FOX News. They also claimed that there was more support in the black community than has been reported by the media — and cited Candace Owens as an example.

Candace Owens is a telegenic African-American woman who works for Turning Point USA, an organization that is riddled with racists. According to the New Yorker, former Turning Point employee Crystal Clanton wrote a text message that read.”I hate black people. Like f**k them all . . . I hate blacks.” Gabrielle Fequiere, a former Turning Point employee, was one of few African Americans at the organization. She described it as a hostile atmosphere. Clanton fired her on Martin Luther King day.

Owens seems to have an affinity for white supremacists. Before she became a national media figure, she called herself Red Pill Black on YouTube. “Red pill” is a phrase used by the alt-right that refers to being awakened to white nationalism. Owens dropped this name after the Unite the Right march in Charlottesville, N.C. She later called fears about rising white nationalism stupid.

During the Trump era, she has reinvented herself as a hard-core right winger and has gained media attention by making controversial statements. She said police violence isn’t a major problem in the black community and called Black Lives Matters activists “whiny toddlers.” She also dubbed Trump “the savior of Western civilization.”

But, she’s a racial opportunist, who figured out that there was a dearth of black, female conservative commentators and decided to carve out her niche. However, Owens had no problem taking a $37,500 settlement after she sued Stamford Public Schools for racial harassment.

Connecticut NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile, who helped Owens’ family with the lawsuit, said he’s stunned by Owens’ political turn around, according to Mic.

“It’s the same type of thing Clarence Thomas did,” he said.“[Thomas] reaped all the benefits of affirmative action and then tried to roll over on it. It’s that kind of mentality and disrespect.”

However, Owens isn’t the first person to do this. Back in the 2000s, I encountered some black voters who were considering switching to the Republican Party, not because they believed in their policies, but because it would boost their careers. During that time the George W. Bush administration was in ascendancy, and they realized the GOP was desperate for more black faces. Also, Armstrong Williams made a good living parroting GOP talking points until he was busted for being on the White House payroll while writing nationally-syndicated columns. Williams, a family values advocate and long-time bachelor, has also been sued for sexual harassment several times — by men.

Owens main point is the Democrats have done nothing for the black community. She also claims she’s a “free thinker,” who doesn’t want to get caught up in political groupthink. That all sounds good on the surface, but it gets murky when she works for a racist organization, downplays the Republican Party’s white nationalist agenda and also serves as a puppet who reinforces GOP propaganda. Its no wonder she was name-checked by Kanye West several months ago. West said he liked the way she thinks.

Owens has also defended West after his recent rants. She claims the left and the African-American community are deriding West because he’s breaking with left-wing orthodoxy. No, Candace, West is being mocked because he can’t string together a coherent sentence.

Both West and Owens are being used by Republicans to reinforce their erroneous opinions. Trump uses West to claim that he’s popular in the black community and FOX News viewers do the same with Owens. They both tell them what they want to hear, even if it’s nonsense.

Owens is a professional Black Best Friend (BBF.) A BBF is a term black actress jokingly use to refer to the throwaway roles they get on predominately-white TV shows and movies. It’s tokenism, but at least it’s work.

Owens is a professional Black Best Friend (BBF.) A BBF is a term black actresses jokingly use to refer to the throwaway roles they get on predominately-white TV shows and movies. It’s tokenism, but at least it’s work.

Owens seems to be following the Ann Coulter/Tomi Lahren path to fame. Make lots of outrageous statements, exploit your sexuality and parlay that fame into speaking gigs and a book deal. But like Coulter and Lahren, she shouldn’t be taken seriously. She’s in it for the money.