Rep. Ted Lieu Ted W. LieuAsian American lawmakers say State's 'assignment restrictions' discriminate Democrats, activists blast Trump DOJ effort to get journalists' phone records Lawmakers praise Biden for expected recognition of Armenian Genocide MORE (D-Calif.) fired back Wednesday at a Republican lawmaker who said that conservative commentator Candace Owens had "owned" Lieu during an exchange at a congressional hearing. "Dan, here is the full statement of Candace Owens. She said what she said," Lieu responded to Rep. Dan Crenshaw Daniel CrenshawThe Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - Israel-Hamas carnage worsens; Dems face SALT dilemma Sunday shows - Cheney removal, CDC guidance reverberate Crenshaw: Republicans can't 'excommunicate' Trump MORE (R-Texas). He linked to a video of Owens's controversial remarks about Adolf Hitler earlier this year. Dan, here is the full statement of Candace Owens. She said what she said. https://t.co/WLXq7knARM — Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) April 10, 2019 The fight between the two lawmakers comes after Lieu went viral earlier this week at a hearing on white nationalism where Owens testified. ADVERTISEMENT At the hearing, Lieu played video of Owens's remarks at a Turning Point UK event at which she stated that if Hitler had just wanted to "make Germany great and have things run well," it would have been "fine," adding that he should have kept his activities confined to Germany's borders. "If Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well — OK, fine," she says in the clip. "The problem is ... he had dreams outside of Germany. He wanted to globalize. He wanted everybody to be German" Owens said Lieu was taking what she said out of context. "I think it's pretty apparent that Mr. Lieu thinks that black people are stupid and will not pursue the full clip in its entirety," Owens responded minutes after he played the clip. "He purposefully extracted clip, he cut off, and you didn’t hear the question that was asked of me," she continued. "[Hitler] was a homicidal, psychopathic maniac that killed his own people. A nationalist would not kill their own people." Crenshaw (R-Texas) said Owens had effectively countered Lieu. "Ted Lieu getting owned by Candace Owens for being deliberately dishonest," Crenshaw wrote in his tweet. "And then Chairman [Rep. Jerrold] Nadler getting called out for completely misrepresenting what Candace said 5 seconds prior."<doc-sep>Conservative commentator Candace Owens was on Capitol Hill today to testify before a House Judiciary hearing on white nationalism. Owens has often said that the media talks too much about white nationalism and white supremacy; she argues that while white supremacists do exist, they are a tiny minority and, she says, the country faces far greater problems than white supremacists. On Tuesday, Owens told the House committee that Democrats, in particular, are using “white nationalism” to frighten African Americans and, she implied, to control their votes. Owens said, “We’re hearing [terms like ‘white nationalism’] sent around today because what they want to say is that brown people want to be scared, which seems to be the narrative that we hear every four years ahead of a presidential election.” Owens also said, “White supremacy, racism, white nationalism, words that once held real meaning, have now become nothing more than election strategies.” Owens had a direct confrontation with California representative Ted Lieu, who took out his phone and played a clip from one of Owens’ most notorious speeches. In that speech, Owens appears to defend Adolph Hitler and to say that Hitler only went wrong when he decided to “globalize” by expanding beyond Germany. You can see that speech, which Owens made earlier this year in London, here. Owens has said that her words were misinterpreted and taken out of context. Ted Lieu Said He Wanted to Let Owens’ Own Words Do the Talking — Then He Played a Clip from Her Speech about Hitler . @RepTedLieu plays recording of Candace Owens: "I don't know Ms. Owens. I'm not going to characterize her. I'm going to let her own words do the talking. So, I'm going to play for you the first 30 seconds of a statement she made about Adolf Hitler." pic.twitter.com/xiilLBUIwF — CSPAN (@cspan) April 9, 2019 Ted Lieu took the floor to say that he really couldn’t understand why his Republican colleagues had chosen Candace Owens to testify at the hearing on white nationalism. “Of all the people the Republicans could have picked, they picked Ms Owens,” Lieu mused. He went on, “I don’t know Ms. Owens. I’m not going to characterize her. I’m going to let her own words do the talking. So, I’m going to play for you the first 30 seconds of a statement she made about Adolf Hitler.” Lieu played the clip, and the camera panned to Owens, looking stonily straight ahead. Lieu said he was addressing his question not to Owens but to Eileen Hershenov, a vice president at the Anti-Defamation League. Lieu asked Hershenov whether, when people try to “legitimize” Adolph Hitler, it can feed into white nationalist ideology. “It does,” said Hershenov. Owens Responded Angrily to Lieu’s Question Moments Later Candace Owens: "I think it's pretty apparent that Mr. Lieu believes that black people are stupid and will not pursue the full clip…That was unbelievably dishonest…I'm deeply offended by the insinuation of revealing that clip without the question that was asked of me." pic.twitter.com/UioMSZK93d — CSPAN (@cspan) April 9, 2019 A few moments after Lieu asked his question, Owens took the floor to respond. She began by saying, “I think it’s pretty apparent that Mr. Lieu believes that black people are stupid,” because, Owens said, Lieu had only played a 30 second clip of her speech about Hitler. Owens was cut off at this point by the committee chair, Jerrold Nadler, who seemed to say that she had called Lieu himself stupid and who instructed her not to use any disparaging language about people in the room. Owens took the floor again, arguing that Lieu had taken the clip of her speech completely out of context — she said that she had been responding to a question from the floor about whether she believed that Hitler was a nationalist. Owens said that she was “deeply offended” by the “insinuation” that she supported Hitler. She pointed out that she had been at the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, and said that she believed Lieu had “purposely” chosen a clip of her speech which put her in a bad light.<doc-sep>Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu on Tuesday played a video clip of incendiary remarks Candace Owens made in December on Adolf Hitler and nationalism. Owens was testifying on Tuesday on white nationalism at the invitation of GOP lawmakers. "Of all the people that Republicans could have selected, they picked Candace Owens," Lieu said before playing the clip. "I don't know Ms. Owens. I'm not going to characterize her. I'm going to let her own words do the talking." Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California on Tuesday played a video of Candace Owens' controversial comments on Adolf Hitler and nationalism as the rising conservative star testified on white nationalism at the invitation of GOP lawmakers. The hearing was held by the House Judiciary Committee, and Owens was among eight witnesses on the panel. During his remarks, Lieu noted that the minority party is allowed to choose its own witnesses for such hearings. "Of all the people that Republicans could have selected, they picked Candace Owens," Lieu said. "I don't know Ms. Owens. I'm not going to characterize her. I'm going to let her own words do the talking." Read more: Candace Owens says Trump will 'crack the black vote' because he loves America and 'the left hates' it The California lawmaker played 30 seconds of remarks Owens made at a conference in London late last year. She said at the time that she thought the definition of "nationalism" "gets poisoned by elitists that actually want globalism — globalism is what I don't want." "Whenever we say 'nationalism,' the first thing people think about, at least in America, is Hitler," she said. "You know, he was a national socialist, but if Hitler had just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, OK, fine." She added: "The problem is that he wanted — he had dreams outside of Germany. He wanted to globalize. He wanted everybody to be German, everybody to be speaking German, everybody to look a different way. That's not, to me, that's not nationalism. So in thinking about how we could go bad down the line, I don't really have an issue with nationalism. I really don't. I think that it's OK." After playing the video clip of Owens' comments, Lieu asked Eileen Hershenov, the senior vice president for policy at the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that focuses on combating anti-Semitism, whether people's attempts to "legitimize" Hitler fed into "white nationalist ideology." "It does, Mr. Lieu," Hershenov replied. "I know that Ms. Owens distanced herself from those comments later, but we expressed great concern over the original comments." Read more: Rising conservative star Candace Owens is slammed over her newly surfaced Hitler comments Later in the hearing, Owens bashed Lieu for playing the clip. "I think it's pretty apparent that Mr. Lieu believes that black people are stupid and will not pursue the full clip," she said, adding that the move was "unbelievably dishonest." "I'm deeply offended by the insinuation of revealing that clip without the question that was asked of me," Owens said. Owens is the communications director of the conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA, which has a strong relationship with the White House and increasing influence within the Republican Party. Last May, President Donald Trump tweeted: "Candace Owens of Turning Point USA is having a big impact on politics in our Country. She represents an ever expanding group of very smart 'thinkers,' and it is wonderful to watch and hear the dialogue going on...so good for our Country!" Owens' comments on Hitler were made in December but surfaced in February. At the time, Turning Point USA told INSIDER that her remarks were "of course being misconstrued and taken out of context." During Tuesday's hearing, Owens slammed Democrats and the overall purpose of the occasion. "The hearing today is not about white nationalism or hate crimes — it's about fear-mongering, power, and control," Owens said, adding that "the goal here is to scare blacks, Hispanics, gays, and Muslims into helping [Democrats] censor dissenting opinions, ultimately into helping them regain control." "White supremacy, racism, white nationalism, words that once held real meaning, have now become nothing more than election strategies," she said. Multiple studies have found that white nationalism and right-wing violence have been on the rise since Trump took office. After the hearing, Owens told INSIDER via email that Lieu had "embarrassed himself" and "exposed the Democrat Party for pushing a fundamentally dishonest narrative without allowing the subject of their narratives (i.e. me) to respond." Owens said that some of the other Democrats at the hearing engaged in "more honest efforts to get to the truth than Rep. Lieu," but that "the entire premise of the Democrats in today's hearing was completely disingenuous, intended to spin a narrative that white nationalism is an existential threat to the United States and the biggest 'boogeyman' facing our country and culture." She went on to say that white nationalism had become the "preferred scapegoat" of "a party that wants every minority group to think of themselves as victims, and to hate White Americans." "These efforts by the left are incredibly destructive to our national unity and it truly saddens me," Owens said. "I've never experienced one ounce of racism in all my time in conservative circles. I can't say the same for my interactions with liberals." Owens told INSIDER that "of course" she believes racism "exists and is a problem" but said "it's completely over-hyped by the Left" and accused Democrats of exploiting fears of racism to try to win back the White House. Lieu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from INSIDER.<doc-sep>Candace Owens’s fiery response this week to Rep. Ted Lieu, the California Democrat who used a clip to frame the fierce Trump supporter as sympathetic to Adolf Hitler, quickly became instant internet gold. “It’s pretty apparent that Mr. Lieu believes that black people are stupid and will not pursue the full clip,” Owens told the panel, firing up her 1.25 million Twitter TWTR, +1.49% followers. “I’m deeply offended by the insinuation of revealing that clip without the question that was asked of me.”<doc-sep>
WASHINGTON – Rep. Ted Lieu was not happy that his Republican colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee invited conservative commentator Candace Owens to speak at a hearing on the rise in hate crimes and white nationalism. To explain why, the California Democrat pulled out his smartphone and played a clip of Owens making some controversial comments about Adolf Hitler. "In congressional hearings, the minority party gets to select its own witnesses. And of all the people Republicans could have selected, they picked Candace Owens," Lieu said during the Tuesday hearing. "I don't know Ms. Owens. I'm not going to characterize her. I'm going to let her own words do the talking," he said. In the clip, Owens, the communications director for Turning Point USA, explains that she thinks the word "nationalism" has been "poisoned" by "elitists that actually want globalism" and who conflate the word with Hitler's Nazi agenda. Candace Owens:Democrats' hate crimes concerns are just '2020 election strategy' Hitler comment:After backlash, Owens clarifies viral Hitler comment "You know, he was a National Socialist, but if Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, okay fine," she said. "The problem is he had dreams outside of Germany. He wanted to globalize. He wanted everybody to be German." Lieu did not ask Owens to respond, but rather asked another panel member, Eileen Hershenov from the Anti-Defamation League, "When people try to legitimize Adolph Hitler, does that feed into white nationalist ideology?" "It does, Mr. Lieu," Hershenov replied. "I know that Ms. Owens distanced herself from those comments later but we expressed great concern over the original comments." In February, Owens had tried to clarify her comments, which had then gone viral. She explained that she considered Hitler "a homicidal, psychotic maniac" and that her point was that he was not a nationalist. But she added, "I stand by my statements. And that is that.” Candace Owens interview:Her rapid rise defending two of America’s most complicated men: Trump and Kanye All the 2020 candidates:The Democrats challenging Donald Trump "I think it's pretty apparent that Mr. Lieu believes that black people are stupid and will not pursue the full clip in its entirety," Owens said Tuesday when she did get a chance to respond. "He purposely presented an extracted clip." Her response prompted a rebuke from Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., who mistakenly thought she had called Lieu "stupid." "I didn't refer to him as stupid, that's not what I said. That's not what I said at all. You didn't listen to what I said," Owen said, prompting a shrug from Nadler. Owens then continued, saying Lieu was "trying to present as if I was launching a defense of Hitler in Germany when, in fact," she was trying to say that Hitler should not be characterized as a nationalist. "A nationalist would not kill their own people," she said. She said Lieu was trying to "create a narrative" and that it was "similar to what they do to Donald Trump."