I hope this week has been a learning experience for Tomi Lahren. However, after following her Twitter feed lately, I’m not very hopeful.
With the recent rise of the new digital right, Lahren has experienced a viral rise to political fame. Well, the higher they rise, the harder they fall as The New York Post reported Lahren has been banned permanently from The Blaze, following her shows suspension the week prior. The suspension was the result of a media firestorm following Lahren's reveal that she was pro-choice on ABC's "The View."
“I can't sit here and be a hypocrite and say I'm for limited government but I think that the government should decide what women do with their bodies,” Lahren said.
Pro-life conservatives quickly objected to the idea that abortion was guaranteed under Constitutional principles, and that it would be hypocritical to think any different.
As an internet junkie and YouTube regular (habits quite typical for a member of Generation Z), I was familiar with Tomi and her closing segment, “Final Thoughts,” long before she gained the attention of Beyoncé’s "Beyhive" or the Huffington Post.
In her early days (late 2015 to early 2016), I tolerated Tomi – but just barely. Besides her virality, she didn’t carry much credibility or gravitas among conservative or libertarian influencers. Those honest with themselves on the right and the left recognized she selected the talking points that got her the most views, shares and Facebook reactions. Most of the time I found her rants coarse, screechy and overly aggressive- words usually associated with leftist commentators, not conservatives.
As many critics from both sides of the aisle have pointed out, for someone who despised and condemned “liberal snowflakes” day in and day out, she sure did get "triggered" easily.
Besides Tomi’s social brand, her style of debate, or her inability to communicate real, honest, conservative principles and policy, my real problem with Tomi Lahren as a voice for young conservatives is simple: she doesn’t listen.
Even now, she’s rabidly defending herself on Twitter from conservatives who criticize her point that pro-life positions are incompatible with Constitutionalist principles. They’re not just incompatible, they’re hypocritical, Lahren said on "The View."
Then again, while she had made pro-life statements in the past, Lahren has also promoted herself as a social moderate. As someone who can't help but judge criticize others for a lack of personal responsibility, it leads one to the assumption that her other so-called “principles” are shaky at best.
Liberal outlets, including the View, have defended Lahren and her comments. Even some on the right have said it's unfair to expect everyone to have the exact same opinions. Those sources have chosen to dismiss the reports that "inflammatory, oftentimes angry style has placed her increasingly at odds with coworkers at The Blaze," according to the Daily Caller.
She rarely showed grace, empathy or fairness to her guests; she got triggered daily. She struggled to back up her points with solid policy outside of the GOP talking points, making Lahren a textbook talking head – and an ineffective one at that. If one is to believe the Daily Caller's report, she was a pain to work with too.
Glenn Beck said in his response to Lahren's pro-choice comment that he didn’t hire sycophants. He said he valued those with opinions different from his own. Between his past support of Lahren (who is an ardent Trump supporter while Beck led the “Never Trump” movement), and his recent collaboration with liberal late night host Samantha Bee, Beck is well within his authority to suspend and ultimately ban Lahren from his network.
As a young Christian conservative, I was always encouraged to study history, policy, economics, my theology and the roots of classical liberalism. Teachers, family members and influencers often reminded me, “don’t take my word for it; study it for yourself.”
When I was no more than 10 or 11 years old, during the Bush years, I was confused why ever night my father would watch Chris Matthews’ “Hardball.” He told me it was important to hear the other side, to understand their perspective and their arguments. Only then, could you recognize why your ideas were better.
The problem with today's political climate is nobody listens to each other, which Lahren demonstrated regularly. Thanks to social media, it’s almost impossible to escape the echo chamber. Now, the pundits reflect that.
English philosopher John Stuart Mill argued strongly for freedom of speech, and the role of active and honest discourse in the free society. However, he made it a point that to be an honest contributor in free and civil discourse, you had to understand contrasting points of view.
“He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.”
It doesn’t matter that Tomi is pro-choice. It matters that Tomi doesn’t know how to defend being pro-choice. For that reason alone, how can she be paid to host a show when she can’t defend her rules under the most basic of standards?
It’s time to go back to basics: principles. Log off Facebook and pick up a book on history or philosophy. Start with the Constitution and read it for yourself. Read Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” while you’re at it too.
Drop the social media sycophants and political pundits. You don’t need Tomi on your Facebook timeline to make a political statement. Make it yourself instead.
