Conservative pundit Tomi Lahren losing her show on The Blaze for publicizing that she is pro-choice is not only ridiculous, it also reveals how sensitive conservative media is.
She lost her job after admitting her position while being interviewed on “The View.”
“You know what? I’m for limited government, so stay out of my guns, and you can stay out of my body as well,” said the controversial Lahren, which led her boss, Glenn Beck, to suspend and later remove her from the air on The Blaze—an online television network that is heavily right wing.
It was particularly stunning because she has spent years speaking against the feminist movement and abortion on her various video platforms since graduating from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It is also curious because conservative philosophy calls for diversity of thought, not silencing of dissent.
The 24-year-old host has had a meteoric rise online with fiery and inflammatory rhetoric. She can be best described as a firecracker, since her signature segments are three minute rants at the end of her shows. Lahren gained fame by bashing the Obama administration, the “liberal agenda” and PC culture.
After a string of viral hits on social media – with millions of views on Facebook – she joined the The Blaze in 2015. Glenn Beck has made his fortune foaming at the mouth as well, spending years on Fox News.
It was the perfect match, until Tomi Lahren had the audacity to step out of line, that is. That’s where she went wrong in the eyes of her employers. She toed the Republican line on her videos, demonizing opposing viewpoints & propelling her career off the back of a socialist from Kenya.
Liberals are often criticized for overbearing political correctness, and rightfully so. Moderation should be the goal in discourse, because the extremes lose intellectual credibility. That is also the way the liberal movement lost the presidential election. Cannibalizing one another to prove who is the most woke and in the process derailing their own political interests in the long run.
That is a lesson conservatives shouldn’t lose sight of. Firing Tomi Lahren was wrong. Not for any moral or fairness reasons, but because it exposed hypocrisy and stupidity. The belief in free speech doesn’t coincide with Lahren being fired for an opinion.
Free speech isn’t firing those who don’t agree on the issue of abortion. There is no way around that betrayal of conservative ideals. Don’t hold others to a standard that you can’t maintain yourself. That isn’t to let liberals off the hook, who ask for people’s jobs at the drop of a hat. A major reason why the country is so divided is people not discerning or allowing for disagreement enough.
The very language and idea policing that plagues the left cost Lahren her job on a conservative site. Beck showed his hand. He – like most conservative media personalities – doesn’t care about free speech. They care about riling up right wing extremists and milking the rubes for millions.
It’s not a coincidence that Fox News consistently has the highest cable news ratings, the highest salaries and garners the most attention online. The name of the game is to shout louder than the next person.
Lahren did this extremely well, to the point that Trevor Noah invited her to the Daily Show in December. This made her a bigger name, making her richer and elevating her platform. She played Noah brilliantly.
Statements or opinions are irrelevant, what matters is getting attention. Lahren got the attention she sought out, therefore she won. Whether Noah or her were deemed to have won the debate, she expanded her reach and notoriety. He punched down, relatively speaking.
This is what Lahren understands. This is why she’s successful. This is why Beck shouldn’t have fired her.
She knows how to make money giving political opinions. Hypocrisy or inconsistency don’t hurt the bottom line, just look at President Trump. The Blaze turned their back on its biggest star over comments she could have easily spun out of. She’s used to bullshitting, it’s literally her job. Now Lahren is filing a “wrongful termination” lawsuit against her employer in response to her firing.
While technically under contract, her lawyer alleges that Lahren is not allowed to give her opinions either on air or via her social media accounts. She wants a judge to order that she is “free to speak her mind.” Paying an employee to keep quiet sounds awful sensitive, even though liberals are the ones labeled as “snowflakes” for their political correctness.
It seems as though oversensitivity is bipartisan because snowflakes were triggered at the thought of a woman having free will. Whether to voice an opinion or over their body. Stay in line Ms. Lahren!
She built her career by bashing identity politics and minority causes only to be reminded that nothing she accomplishes or says will give her equal footing with rich white men like Glenn Beck.
