Candace Owens floated a conspiracy theory so wild and unfounded that it left Fox News host Dana Perino nearly speechless during a panel show on Sunday night.

In a segment of Fox News show The Next Revolution discussing the New York Times op-ed written by an anonymous Trump official, Owens suggested the piece was actually written by the New York Times, and that the paper is lying that the author is an administration staffer.

“How do we know it’s not just the New York Times publishing that?” she asked.

Perino, former White House Press Secretary turned Fox News host, grimaced.

“How do we know?” Owens asked again. “That’s all I’m saying is, how do we know?”

“I genuinely can’t believe…” show host Steve Hilton offered tepidly in response.

Perino said the writer could be a middling staffer in the administration, before Owens cut in: “But we don’t know, there’s no transparency,” she said. “There’s no transparency whatsoever. It’s anonymous. We’re taking this at face value.”

Hilton swiftly moved the conversation along.

It’s not entirely surprising that Owens would float such a batty conspiracy theory — that the New York Times editorial board conspired to invent a Trump administration official and wrote a bombshell op-ed by their fictional character trashing the president – on air. After all, just a few months ago she was hosting Infowars. A few years before that she was floating conspiracy theories about the size of Trump’s penis. What is surprising is that Fox News allows her on air to do so.

Watch above, via Fox News. H/t Contemptor.

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]