Candace Owens Shares Misleading Zelensky Video: 'That's Bold'

Candace Owens shared misleading video footage of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on her Daily Wire show this week as she spoke about her desire to punch him "in the face."

The conservative commentator, who has publicly criticized the Ukrainian leader on several occasions, played a seconds-long clip that she described as showing Zelensky "warning you of what will happen if you stop funding his lifestyle."

Owens has previously accused Zelensky of "stealing from our people" referring to U.S. aid sent to Ukraine amid Russia's ongoing full-scale invasion.

In the clip Owens shared this week, Zelensky was heard saying: "The U.S. will have to send their sons and daughters exactly the same way as we are sending our sons and daughters to war. And they will have to fight because it's nature that we're talking about. And they will be dying, God forbid, because it's a horrible thing."

"Oof," said Owens in reaction to the video. "I am not going to say that I'd like to punch Zelensky in the face, because that's that's violent. But I am saying that if I could get away with punching one person in the face and have no consequences, it would be President Zelensky.

"I can't even tell you how much, oof, I harbor for him," Owens continued of Zelensky. "The audacity to tell you that the consequence is going to be that your sons and daughters are going to fight and die if you don't help him secure a win against Russia. Wow. That's bold.

"But why shouldn't he be feeling bold? He's got, he's got our congressmen waving the Ukrainian flag in our chambers, right. In our congressional chambers."

The short clip of Zelensky speaking was taken from the Ukrainian president's lengthy February 24 press conference, which was held to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of his country. It went viral on social media this week, with many suggesting it shows the Ukrainian leader calling on people in the United States to send their children to fight in Ukraine.

It was shared on Twitter by The Hodgetwins, also known as the Conservative Twins. The Hodgetwins are an American stand-up comedy and conservative political commentary duo consisting of identical twin brothers Keith and Kevin Hodge.

In a fact check conducted by Newsweek, it was found that the short clip is missing a lot of context. Zelensky's remarks were in response to a wider question about opinion polls in the U.S. that indicate a growing number of Americans believe the Biden administration is providing too much support to Ukraine.

Ukraine's president was asked about what his message would be to Americans with those concerns.

Zelensky began by thanking Americans for showing support to Ukraine, and said he believed withdrawing or decreasing support could hypothetically have an impact on their children, should Russia win the war as a result.

"Are American children any different from ours? Don't Americans enjoy the same things as we do?" he asked rhetorically. "I don't think we're very different."

Zelensky suggested that if American support for Ukraine weakened and depleted, and Kyiv went on to lose the war against Russia, NATO members, including the U.S., risk being dragged into a bigger conflict.

This, Zelensky predicted, is because "Russia is going to enter Baltic states, NATO member states, and then the U.S. will have to send their sons and daughters, exactly the same way as we are sending our sons and daughters, to war.

"And they will have to fight because it's NATO that we're talking about and they will be dying, God forbid, because it's a horrible thing."

Therefore the clip was removed from its important and clarifying context, giving a misleading impression of what Zelensky said.

His remarks were a hypothetical answer about what could happen should Ukraine lose the war to Russia, partially due to decreased support from the United States.

The president speculated that Russia would start a broader conflict with NATO's Baltic allies, pulling the U.S. directly into fighting a war, meaning Americans would end up sending their children to the battlefield in Europe.

Zelensky did not suggest that Americans should send their children to fight now for Ukraine against Russian forces.