Candace Owens Shares Her Lowest Moment After Trump's Fourth Attack in Two Weeks
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Candace Owens Shares Her Lowest Moment After Trump's Fourth Attack in Two Weeks
Candace Owens addresses President Trump's fourth social media attack against her in two weeks, where he shared what he thought was a humiliating photo and called her a "low IQ individual." Owens reveals the deeply personal story behind that photo, a toxic mold poisoning in 2016 that left her covered in eczema, losing her hair, and battling severe health issues. In this vulnerable moment, Owens explains why she originally shared that photo herself, how the experience humbled her and brought her back to prayer, and why Trump's attempt to embarrass her actually demonstrates his own desperation. What she learned during that dark period would shape her entire approach to politics and public life.
Candace Owens opens by addressing an unexpected reality: she won something. President Trump named her in a Truth Social post, though not in the way anyone would hope. The post read: "Candace Owens' stock, which was never very high, has fallen a long way. Her attack on the First Lady of France is despicable. I believe in this case, without verification, she's an extremely low IQ individual. Look at that photo. Ouch."
Owens notes this marks the fourth tweet about her from the leader of the free world in just two weeks. She questions what prompted this repeated assault and points out that Trump seems to be repeating himself—he's already called her low IQ, already asserted she was uglier than Brigitte Macron, and made his point multiple times. What was he trying to accomplish?
How Washington Politics Really Works
Before addressing the substance of the attack, Owens explains the political machinery behind it. Washington D.C. runs on blackmail and secrets, she explains. Operators are sent out to find people's deepest, darkest, most humiliating secrets. Once discovered, targets are presented with two options: fall in line, deliver the talking points, vote how they want you to vote, say what they want you to say, and the public never finds out—or stand against them and have everything revealed.
Owens finds it incredible what people will do, what shame they'll put themselves through, and what statements they'll make that are abundantly untrue, simply to avoid public embarrassment. In that regard, she gives Trump some credit—the photo he shared of her is real, not AI. After four days of Trump advisor Laura Loomer sharing AI photos, illusory stories about drunken hit-and-runs, and fairytales about secret trusts to hide money from Macron, finding something authentic must have provided some satisfaction.
The Problem With Cartoonishly Evil People
The only problem with people who are cartoonishly evil, Owens points out, is that they also tend to be equally dumb. The deflation they must feel learning that the photo they stumbled upon—her deepest darkest secret—was actually first shared by her on her own Twitter account in 2019. No journalist found it. She shared it herself because she's actually proud of that photo.
The HVAC Leak That Changed Everything
The story begins in 2016, before Owens had any public profile whatsoever. She had moved into a brand new, newly built luxury apartment. One night she received a knock on the door from building maintenance claiming there was a system-wide HVAC leak. They needed to pull back the carpet in a spare bedroom, which was completely soaked through in the closet. They ran a fan and advised her not to go in that room for a couple of days.
A few days later, Owens woke up with completely red eyes that were pussing and itchy. She thought it was unrelated. Within weeks, she broke out head-to-toe in eczema, something she had never previously had. Giant patches of eczema covered her skin. Her hair fell out in clumps. She even got athlete's foot. She had two asthma attacks that landed her in the hospital. She had no idea what was happening.
If not for somebody in her life who instantly recognized the pattern of symptoms and told her there had to be a toxic mold presence requiring immediate environmental testing, Owens believes that person potentially saved her life. She would have never figured out what was going on because everything seemed so separate and sporadic. And she has way worse pictures than the one Trump shared.
The Mental and Physical Toll
Beyond the physical symptoms—the itching, the hair falling out—mentally, Owens became a completely changed person. She was exhausted, sleeping up to 16 hours a day. She suddenly was not herself anymore. Her brain could not think or process thoughts. Everything she had to do, even things she didn't have to do, was overwhelming.
If somebody texted her, she would cry and become overwhelmed because she couldn't think of how to respond. She was exhausted at the idea of having to answer somebody back in a text message. It seemed like an impossible task. Over a couple of months, she felt like her looks and her brains were just gone.
A Humbling Revelation About Confidence
Owens had not realized until that moment how much of her personal confidence was actually tied to her looks. Certain things had been easier for her for being—and Trump could dispute this, she notes—but generally good-looking by most people's standards. She didn't appreciate how much she tied that to who she was.
She used to be able to just pop on a red lip and run out the door without putting on any makeup. She shows pictures from August 2016, just before the HVAC leak—hiking with her cousins, traveling, feeling confident, not needing to wear makeup at all. The picture Trump shared was taken just three months later. She was sick, very very sick, and immediately humbled.
Isolation and Prayer
Owens didn't want to see anyone. She's not going to pretend she was profound about it. She didn't have the energy to see anyone anyway. She only let her cousin Mia see her—the same cousin she mentions on the show who took care of her day in and day out.
Eventually a doctor told her that pills weren't enough. The only way to beat an infection like this was through an unbelievably restricting diet—no sugar, not even sugar in fruit. A very strict candidiasis diet. Owens cried a lot, which was unusual for her.
For the first time in what felt like a very long time—prior to this she had been living in New York City, going out all the time—she started praying again. It felt like the first time since living with her grandparents in middle school that she made prayer a daily habit. She remembers vividly lighting a candle in her bedroom at night and getting on her knees.
She knows it's not acceptable, but she was bargaining with God. She remembers specifically saying: "I don't even care about the looks, I just want my mind back. I just want to be able to think again. I want to be able to write again. I want to be able to have energy again. I want to be Candace. I want to be Candace on the inside."
What Really Matters
When it came down to it, that's all she wanted—not to look like herself, but to be healthy again. She came away from that experience realizing that health is everything. Looks mean nothing in the scheme of things. She was happy to accept that was how she was going to look for the rest of her life.
The story ends well. She moved out of that apartment and did the strict diet. She eventually had to chop her hair, but did it in a cute little bob. With a lot of time—probably about six months—her skin fully cleared up, which was not something she was expecting.
A Test Before the Limelight
What followed was in August 2019, almost a year exactly later, when she started her political YouTube channel for the first time, having no idea how successful it would be. When it became successful, she really enjoyed the hindsight of that story. She admits she's probably inserting this, but she felt like God was giving her a test before life in the limelight.
She always thinks: what if she had prayed and said, "Please God, give me my good looks back. Take my mind, but give me my good looks back"? For whatever it's worth, she entered the space of politics with a very real understanding of how fickle it all is. She felt completely at God's mercy. She wanted to keep her circle really small.
Her cousin Mia still works with her today. Mia is the person who helped her upload her first video onto YouTube. She filmed her. Mia is still rolling with her, the one she took to Sierra Leone because of vibes. Owens feels she went into politics with the right attitude and not impressed by a lot of things that impressed other people. She knew the importance of family and how quickly everything could be stripped away. All she wanted was her health, and she was just so grateful to be able to think again.
You Have No Power Over Me
To Trump directly, Owens makes clear: it's important for him to know that he has no power over her and her life. She chose to share that picture. That's why he has it. That's why he could have somebody put that on an AI cover. She made a decision to share it with the public because it was the lowest moment of her life, and she doesn't want people digging through to find it and try to embarrass her.
She's not embarrassed of it. She's proud of who it made her into. People get sick. In fact, people email her daily about their chronic illnesses and tell her how much the podcast helps them get through the day. People going through surgery, people going through cancer, who similarly are wearing bandannas and have no hair, who enjoy listening to this podcast. It gives them a laugh. Who cares what you look like? You have low moments, you get through them.
Never, when she went through that experience—and to people who are sick and going through things—never could she have imagined that her lowest moment would one day become President Trump's lowest moment.
