Earlier this week, I was on Facebook when I saw a post from The Daily Show previewing the week's lineup of guests that host Trevor Noah would have on the show. And of the four names on the lineup, one of them made me raise a brow in intrigue: Tomi Lahren. For those of you who don't know, Tomi Lahren is a political commentator who has provided a voice to conservative millennials whose built a strong following on Facebook and Twitter. Lahren has been well known for calling out Beyonce, Jesse William's BET Awards speech, Colin Kaepernick's protest (which has earned 65 million views), and a deleted tweet referring to the Black Lives Matter movement as the new KKK. The interview began with Tomi commenting to Trevor Noah that she was "entering the lion's den." To which Noah responds by joking "I'm not a lion at all. Is that an Africa thing?" And from then on, Noah discussed the young commentator's past experience regarding Donald Trump and the Alt-right, the Black Lives Matter Movement, and Colin Kaepernick's protest.
The first topic Trevor Noah brought up Lahren's reaction following the Access Hollywood leak, where Donald Trump bragged about groping a woman and saying he could do it because he was a celebrity. During the scandal, Lahren tweeted that she supported Trump's running mate, Mike Pence. Lahren defends this by saying that "words are less egregious than actions," and cites Kellyanne Conway, who ran Trump's campaign. From there, Trevor asked what Tomi tries to do with her show; to which she states that she wants to give a voice to the people that felt ignored by groups like DC. From there, Noah comments that those people over DC, but "DC for a long time had been in control by the Republicans. Republicans who made sure that government didn't move for so long." And Lahren states that she has spoken out against it and saw it as a reason for her support for Donald Trump.
After that, the two discussed Lahren's volatile record with the Black Lives Matter movement; to which Trevor comments that "for someone who is not racist, you have to spend a lot of time saying 'I'm not racist.'" Lahren defends her loss of respect by mentioning the rioting and looting within the protests. Noah then points out how every protest in history has had its fair share of extreme cases. Along with that, Trevor Noah applies Lahren's logic with cases of police officers harassing black people and assuming all cops are racist; which Tomi deflects by saying it is not the case because "the mainstream media's not emboldening them (police officers) as a group." Noah then refers to her as the mainstream media, citing how Donald Trump and his supporters won; along with her strong following on Facebook and Twitter. Soon enough, Trevor and Tomi address the notorious tweet where Tomi Lahren compares the Black Lives Matter to the KKK. Immediately, Trevor points out that cannot be the case because the KKK are still around. Tomi clarifies that the Black Lives Matter's extreme demonstrators to the Klan.
Another issue that Lahren has become notorious for discussing that was brought up was her reaction to Colin Kaepernick's protest of the National Anthem. Tomi states that she respects his First Amendment and insists that she also has the right to criticize his protest. This prompts Trevor to ask how a black person can get a message across "because if I march in the street, people say I am a thug. If I go out and protest, people say that it is a riot...what is the right way for a black person to get attention in America?" Rather than answering the question, Tomi questions how Kaepernick can kneel during the national anthem; then Trevor assures that Colin is doing nothing that affects her. Then through many attempts to ask this question Lahren continues to de-rail by asking what Kaepernick is exactly protesting and adding her feelings towards the flag and anthem. Then she mentions how she is marginalized as a woman, but does nothing-citing that she refuses to victimize herself. Which Noah comments that victimhood isn't mandatory for someone to protest.
During the interview, Lahren told Trevor Noah that she wishes that "we could disagree with each other without thinking we're ill-intentioned folks." And through that, I will say that I disagree with Tomi Lahren and will say that she seems like a cordial person, but she is not a strong commentator. I've watched some of her videos and was able to find the "proof" that she keeps asking for. Lahren also pulls a brand of hypocrisy by saying that she's willing to say what needs to be heard, all while telling immigrants and refugees to be grateful to live in this country, whenever they criticize the United States.
