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Fact check: Did Candice owens say Muslims started slavery
Executive Summary
Candace Owens has discussed the global history of slavery and promoted controversial reinterpretations, but the available sources do not show her saying that "Muslims started slavery." Reporting that directly addresses the claim finds no evidence; instead, the recent coverage documents separate controversies about her comments on the Holocaust and antisemitic themes [1] [2] [3] [4]. Given the documents provided, the specific assertion that she said Muslims initiated slavery is unsupported by the cited material.
1. What people are claiming and why it matters — sorting the allegation from the context
The core claim under scrutiny is that Candace Owens explicitly said “Muslims started slavery.” This is a discrete, causal assertion about historical origins tied to a named group and a public figure; if true it would be a notable factual claim with implications for public discourse. The materials provided, however, show that discourse around Owens often involves contested interpretations of slavery and provocative historical statements, but the supplied analyses do not record a direct quote or source where she makes this particular claim [1] [2]. Distinguishing a verbatim claim from broader commentary matters for accuracy and accountability.
2. What Owens actually said about slavery, according to available documents
The clearest relevant document summarizes Owens as arguing that slavery has been a global institution across many societies and that some common narratives about the Atlantic slave trade are misunderstood; she emphasized that slavery existed among Native Americans, Africans, and others and framed slavery as historically widespread rather than the product of a single group [1]. A separate critique characterizes right‑wing commentators, including Owens, as distorting slavery’s history for political ends but again does not attribute the statement that Muslims started slavery to her [2]. These sources point to nuance in her general framing, not the asserted line.
3. Recent reporting highlights different controversies, not this claim
Recent high‑profile coverage of Owens in October–December 2025 focuses on her comments that minimized the Holocaust and on alleged antisemitic conspiracy promotion, leading to public backlash and organizational consequences [3] [4] [5]. These accounts are dated October–December 2025 and address antisemitic themes and organizational fallout, not statements about Muslims pioneering slavery. The temporal proximity and prominence of those controversies can create noise that fuels misattribution of other comments, but the supplied reporting does not corroborate the Muslims‑started‑slavery claim.
4. Why the historical claim would be historically dubious and how sources treat such arguments
The sources provided that engage with slavery’s history treat it as a complex, multi‑civilizational phenomenon, and they criticize simplistic or ahistorical shortcuts used by commentators [1] [2]. Those sources emphasize that slavery existed in many societies long before European colonialism and that multiple regions and actors participated over millennia. Given that scholarship and the critiques cited frame slavery as multifaceted and transregional, a claim that a single religious group “started” slavery would run counter to the broad historical consensus reflected in these materials.
5. How misattribution and media focus can produce false associations
The documents show repeated coverage of Owens on other topics and note her history of provocative statements; such a public profile increases the chance that remarks are misremembered, conflated, or attributed to her incorrectly [5] [2]. Media cycles concentrated on one controversy—here, antisemitic remarks about the Holocaust—can create associative drift whereby unrelated claims become linked to a figure. The available analyses suggest no direct evidence for the specific assertion, and they illustrate how different reports focus on separate issues.
6. Bottom line: evidence status and recommended next steps for verification
Based on the supplied sources, there is no documented instance in these materials of Candace Owens saying “Muslims started slavery”; instead, she has been recorded making broader claims about slavery’s global history and has been criticized for other controversial statements [1] [2] [3]. To verify definitively, review primary artifacts: video clips, transcripts, or original posts where the alleged quote would appear. If you want, I can search for direct transcripts or archived broadcasts and check them against the claim.