Ep. 2438 - THE OP IS LIVE: Candace’s Magical Russia Tour Continues
June 4, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readThe Russian Influence Operation Is Live
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is a known hub for Russian intelligence operations, and Candace Owens just spoke there alongside Vladimir Putin and Alexander Dugin. Ryan Mauro has reported that the forum's panels serve as "recruitment pipelines for foreign collaborators" with goals including "state directed soft power programs." This is not a tourist trip or a fact-finding mission. It is an active influence operation, and it is working on a large number of Americans who spend too much time online watching Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Sean Ryan, Andrew Tate, or Megan Kelly.
The Mechanism: Demoralization and the Op
The framework Ben Shapiro uses to explain what is happening is "demoralization"—the effort to destroy basic moral principles and replace them with divisive fringe ideologies. This is step one in collapsing an enemy. The operation works by convincing Americans that their country is irredeemably corrupt and that its geopolitical opponents are actually not that bad, perhaps even better. The goal is to drive down American belief in America in favor of a "multipolar" world that benefits U.S. enemies.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:40) **Russia Psyop Thesis Introduced** - Ben frames Candace Owens’ Moscow trip as active participation in a live Russian psychological operation
- 2 (02:00) **Putin’s KGB Background** - Details Putin’s intelligence career and Andropov’s “disinformation is like cocaine” quote
- 3 (03:58) **Demoralization Mechanism Explained** - Describes the first stage of collapsing an enemy society by replacing core moral principles
- 4 (06:13) **St. Petersburg Economic Forum** - Candace appears on a panel with Putin and Alexander Dugin at a known Russian intelligence recruitment venue
- 5 (07:30) **Russia Social Indicators** - Lists abortion rates, fertility collapse, low church attendance, and high substance-abuse statistics
- 6 (08:30) **Candace Owens’ On-Site Claims** - Plays clips of her stating Russia and the U.S. are “basically the same” and praising family policy
- 7 (11:08) **Family Policy Irony** - Candace endorses Russian pro-natalist messaging despite Russia’s 1.4 fertility rate
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Candace Owens continues her magical propaganda tour of Vladimir Putin’s Russia; we discuss why American wins only if the New York Knicks lose the NBA Finals (run some pick and rolls for Wemby, for goodness’ sake!); and we’re joined by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
Ep. 2438
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