Far-right activist Candace Owens is under fire by the conservative National Center for Public Policy Research after she complained about people with disabilities getting represented in commercials.
“During an episode of her podcast, Owens said about an ad depicting a woman in a wheelchair modeling underwear: ‘I don’t really understand how far we are going to take this inclusivity thing.’ She added: ‘I don’t know why this needs to be done. I’m just getting tired of this all-inclusivity thing, it just seems ridiculous,'” noted the organization in a statement. “Owens’ unapologetic comments have garnered wide-ranging disapproval across the political spectrum, including Hollywood actress Christina Applegate – who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021. Applegate commented on Twitter: ‘Woke to see the most horrible thing. This Candace person making comments about companies who see we need help. It’s f****** gross.'”
In particular, the comment drew outrage from the senior adviser to NCPPR’s Able Americans program, Melissa Ortiz.
“As a lifelong conservative, I am appalled that Candace Owens seems to see herself as the spokeswoman on this issue for the whole freedom movement,” Ortiz said, in an article originally published in USA Today. “Owens and I prove that no political leaning is monolithic in nature. Her boldness resonates with me and many other conservative women. But I was stunned by her comments about women in wheelchairs modeling underwear, especially her sentiment that no one wants to see that.”
Owens, who has been affiliated with the controversial right-wing student group Turning Point USA and is the self-described founder of the “Blexit” movement to encourage Black people to abandon the Democratic Party for the GOP, has triggered outrage several times in the past.
In 2019, Owens stirred controversy when she said in a speech that Hitler would have been fine if he hadn’t tried to expand outside of his borders and stuck to “mak[ing] Germany great.” And last year, she produced a “documentary” that purported to show it was a “lie” that George Floyd was murdered.
