By now you probably know who she is. You’ve probably seen one of her videos, and likely suffered from an extreme migraine after enduring her shouts for three long minutes. That’s right. We’re talking about 23-year-old Tomi Lahren—the commentator who continues to growl her racist, ignorant beliefs at whatever will listen. To fully understand how disrespectful and outrageous Lahren has been, let’s take a look at the top 10 most appalling and/or embarrassing comments of her career thus far. (I say “thus far” because I know there will be more in the future.)
1. In reference to Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance and other performers bringing attention to racism in modern society, Lahren said, they just “can’t let America heal,” and that they keep “ripping off the historical band-aid.”
Tomi, it’s impossible to heal when there is still a gaping, open wound. Discrimination, segregation, and racism are not over. They’re not done. We’re not healing—we’re still hurting. Schools in certain districts (for example, Cleveland School District in Mississippi) are still segregated. Blacks continue to receive less pay than whites for the same job. As we’ve seen in recent events, police brutality against blacks is rampant. This is not a ‘historical’ issue. This is a current issue. There is no band-aid, and there is no healing, because America is still wounded. I’ll rephrase that for you, Tomi. I think this is what you meant to say: “Beyonce, please don’t bring up this issue. It’s uncomfortable for me, and I don’t want to deal with it because it doesn’t actually affect my life. Let’s just cover it up and pretend none of it exists.” Great idea.
2. In response to Hillary Clinton’s vocal support of women’s issues, Lahren said, “I’m a Republican, and I can buy my own womanly things!”
First of all, thanks for reminding us that you’re a Republican. It’s greatly appreciated. Secondly, good for you. I’m glad you’re able to purchase your own birth control. But you’re forgetting that thousands of women don’t actually have that option, including me. I’m a broke college student, and I go to Planned Parenthood. Many of my college-aged friends do, too. We’re not all from privileged households. We’re not all trying to take advantage of the system. But we’re all women, and we all have a right to our own reproductive health. After all, without easy access to birth control, abortions would become even more popular. Is that what you want?
3. Again, in response to Hillary Clinton’s vocal support of women’s issues, Lahren said, “The only thing I get on my knees to do is pray.”
Does anyone find this comment relevant at all? By supporting women’s reproductive health, Clinton is not suggesting that you should start giving more blow-jobs. But thank you, Tomi, for giving us a little insight into a part of your life we don’t need to hear about.
4. Lahren responded to Obama’s speech about gun control by saying it’s easy for him to go after our second amendment rights when he’s “surrounded by many men with guns at all times.”
Are you the President of the United States? Do you require that much security? I didn’t think so. Not to mention those men with guns are as qualified to carry a gun as any police officer. Obama is not trying to eliminate all gun use—only those who are not qualified or stable enough to carry one. If you become President of the United States someday (this is the part where I get on my knees and pray that this doesn’t happen), you will be afforded the same kind of security.
5. On a similar note, she complains that liberals are trying to “prevent law-abiding citizens from their constitutional second amendment right.”
If you’re truly a healthy, law-abiding citizen, stricter gun laws will not affect you. It’s as simple as that.
6. While ranting about Jesse Williams’ speech at the BET awards, Lahren said, “If the [black] victim ended up being unarmed, it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying.”
This comment wins the award for Greatest Generalization of All Time. In other words, any black person who doesn’t have a gun has tried, or has thought about trying, to take a gun from a police officer. That is so unbelievably racist—I’m not even sure what else to say about that. To be honest, it makes me feel sick, especially because I know there are people out there who are applauding her for saying this.
7. Also in response to Jesse Williams, Lahren said, “Do you know how many of our ancestors fought in the Civil War to free your ancestors?”
The truthful, historically accurate answer to your question is: probably not very many. If you had done your research, you would have realized that while the preservation of slavery was certainly a main initiative of the South, the disestablishment of slavery was not the main intention of the North. The main point of the Civil War for the North was to preserve the union. Most were not fighting in the Civil War in an effort to free Jesse Williams’ ancestors. Maybe your ancestors were anti-slavery, and maybe they weren't! Anyway, I doubt you know for sure. Lahren goes on to say that it was the “white, Southern Democrats” who were defending slavery. Oh, Tomi. I’d like to remind you that those Democrats would be considered modern-day Republicans. Nice try, though. That was almost a good argument.
8. Lahren tweeted, “Meet the new KKK, they call themselves ‘Black Lives Matter’ but make no mistake [sic] their goals are far from equality.”
At this point I’d like to acknowledge that although Lahren’s comments are incredibly outrageous and her rants are filled with false logic, I respect her right to express her opinion. But not this time. To me (and to thousands of other Americans, as seen in the petition to have her fired from The Blaze), this comment is unacceptable. She wants to criticize Beyonce for reopening old wounds? Well, here you go—hypocrisy at its finest.
9. In her Behind the Scenes video, Lahren is seen talking to someone off camera. In regards to climate change, she says, “I talk to a lot of Democrats about that. They’re like, ‘But it’s freezing, and then it’s hot!’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s called weather. That’s what happens.’”
I have two words here: Face palm. Weather and climate are not the same. And in case you won’t take my word for it, here it is, straight from NASA. According to their website, “Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere ‘behaves’ over relatively long periods of time.” We’re not talking about the first day of spring when it’s suddenly warmer than it was yesterday. We’re talking about the fact that it no longer snows where it used to when our parents were young. We’re talking about the fact that, according to NASA, “Antarctica lost about 152 cubic kilometers of ice between 2002 and 2005.” We’re talking about how, according to The Union of Concerned Scientists, “The 12 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998 and every one of the past 38 years has been warmer than the 20th century average.” Mic drop.
10. Lahren complained that Obama is not doing enough with National Security, saying he has a “half-way, half-baked, tip-toe, be-friendly-to-Jihadist mentality.”
I think she might have just given Sarah Palin a run for her money, here.
As a writer, and as an opinionated person, I’m all about freedom of speech. I respect that people have different ideas than I do. But I don’t tolerate racism, and I don’t tolerate close-mindedness. As a fellow twenty-something, Tomi Lahren embarrasses me, and I feel truly sorry for the young conservatives who have to deal with such an off-base representative. Our generation is already struggling to gain respect and admiration from our elders, and this kind of hate speech, ignorance, and entitled attitude is not helping our cause. Most of us were taught from an early age to treat people with respect. That's something that Tomi Lahren clearly missed out on.
