Conservative commentator Candace Owens, who was suspended from YouTube last month for hate speech against the LGBTQ community, dished out some blunt advice to students at an upstate New York university.
Speaking at the Turning Point USA Live Free tour in Albany, a pregnant Owens expressed concern that her presence made transgender students feel vulnerable.
During a Q&A session, a student asked Owens, ‘What do you have to say to the trans students on this campus who feel actively victimized by your presence here?’
Owens quickly replied: ‘Life is hard, get a helmet, man, I’m too pregnant for this.’
Some students in the audience applauded her response, while others seemed to react with silence and disbelief. Owens’ comment also drew praise on social media sites.
Candace Owens offered some blunt advice to students during a Q&A session in upstate New York, addressing issues of ‘free speech’ and ‘transgender’ students
Students expressed concern about her presence making transgender students feel vulnerable
Turning Point USA is a nonprofit that promotes conservative politics on high school and college campuses.
Owens appeared to be proud of her response and later shared the video clip on social media.
‘I am over 8 months pregnant with two toddlers at home. If you’re a 20-year-old adult who feels “actively victimized” by me standing on stage to talk about social and economic conservatism, it’s because your parents failed you completely. It’s not my job to babysit adults,’ she wrote.
So far, the clip has received almost 12 million views.
Owens was strong in her defense, if not condescending to many of those asking questions
Students asked Owens for her views on free speech and ‘gender identity’ and the experts quickly had answers ready
In another clip from the Q&A session, a non-binary student confronts Owens about her beliefs that trans people are “confused.”
‘As a non-binary person, what do you have to tell me about my identity? Because I know for a fact I’m not confused,’ asks the student.
Owens sidestepped the question and instead responded by protecting her interviewer.
‘Okay! Next question. Great statement…You know your identity. You are not confused. Congratulations, love. Thank you very much for your statement’, she replied, shaking her head.
In a third question posted online, a student brought up the issue of free speech.
‘How do you think free speech affects everyone in the community?’ Owens asked.
As always, Owens was quick to respond.
“I mean the idea that if someone looks at a man and calls him a man and they feel insecure because they’ve created a false reality in their own head – I don’t agree with that.
“The left is trying to make it seem like people who see reality for what it is are demented and are creating unsafe territory and that is not the truth. What I think is unsafe is that people are confirmed in their delusions. Go live your life the way you want to live your life.
“When I have to pretend to see a woman when you’re clearly a man, I don’t have to play that game,” Owen said to applause.
Owens’ YouTube channel, which is worth an estimated $1.1 million a year, still appears to be monetized with advertiser content. She was suspended from the platform last month
Supporters of Owens praised her sugarcoated answers with a desire to see more
Supporters of Owens praised her sugarcoated answers with a desire to see more.
‘Serious? When did people become so weak and emotional? Our ancestors hunted for food and sometimes starved for days until they caught prey again, unlike modern humans who feel victimized by another person’s presence on a campus,’ wrote one Twitter user.
“Candace is always a joy to listen to, even if it’s just for 25 seconds,” wrote another.
The post also attracted negative feedback, with one social media user siding with the student who asked the question and suggesting that Owens should improve her approach to public speaking.
Another criticized Owens, describing her as a ‘shill who will say anything for money’.
Last month, Owens was issued a strike by YouTube for violating the site’s ‘hate speech’ policies.
A YouTube spokesperson said: ‘We have issued a strike to the Candace Owens Podcast channel for violating our hate speech policy, which prohibits content that promotes hatred against protected individuals or groups, including the LGBTQ+ community.’
Three strikes against a YouTube account within 90 days may result in its termination.
Previous content hosted by Owens included accusations that anyone who shopped at Target was “gay” and a “pervert.” She also claimed ‘transgenderism is a cancer and we have to fight it.’
YouTube’s hate speech policy states that content that ‘repeatedly targets, insults and abuses a group based on protected group status across multiple uploads’ may result in penalties.
Owens’ YouTube channel, which has more than 2 million followers and is worth an estimated $1.1 million a year, still appears to be monetized with advertiser content.