Podcaster Candace Owens doubles down on French First Lady ‘was a man’ claim even after Macrons sue for defamation

Candace Owens has said the suit filed in Delaware actually defames her; on her podcast, she said Macrons trying to 'groom' the courts; mentions Trump too

American influencer Candace Owens is facing a defamation suit by France’s President and his wife Brigitte Macron over her assertion that First Lady Brigitte “was born a man”, but Owens is refusing to stop and is, in fact, doubling down.

Candace Owens is a right-wing commentator known for conspiracy theories and wild claims in her podcast and other content. (AP)

Owens has said that the suit filed in Delaware, US, actually defames her. On her Candace podcast on Wednesday, she said the Macrons are trying to “groom” the courts. “We would be required to depose Donald Trump,” she added, suggesting without proof that the US President would agree with her assertion.

This is on continuance of Owens' claims last month that in February she got a call from Trump telling her that President Macron asked him to help him get her to stop talking about his wife, Deadline reported.

But Owens again on Wednesday called Brigitte Macron, a mother of three, a man; and termed the lawsuit “goofy” and “a catastrophic PR strategy”.

The right-wing podcaster further declared, “On behalf of the entire world, I will see you in court.”

The Macrons have called her claims “outlandish, defamatory and far-fetched fictions”.

“The clicks kept coming, so Owens kept going, seizing every opportunity to promote her salacious claims,” says the suit, “Rather than engage with President and Mrs Macron’s attempts to set the record straight, Owens mocked them and used them as additional fodder for her frenzied fan base."

The complaint on 22 counts seeks a jury trial and likely major monetary damages.

The case in the US, however, comes as the Macrons suffered a setback in a case of defamation they'd filed in France about similar assertions.

Two women who spread stories online that the First Lady was once a male were convicted of libel, but the conviction was overturned recently. The Macrons are appealing to higher courts in France on that.