Tomi Lahren Part II

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/m9ds7s/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-exclusive---tomi-lahren-extended-interview

The link above is an interview with Tomi Lahren, someone I have written about on this blog before, and Trevor Noah form the Daily Show on Comedy Central. First, I think Noah really came into his own while giving this interview with someone he has repeatedly picked apart and criticized endlessly on his show. He did an excellent job steering the conversation and challenging her to rethink certain things she has said even though there was no way she was going to answer every question he posed.

My previous post about Lahren was definitely critical but perhaps I attacked her too hard. In watching her show, it definitely can make a viewer who disagrees with her want to hate her because no one is there to challenge her and she attacks those whom she discusses and is so angry when she speaks. I have gone so far to question her intelligence and even the institution she went attended for college (which I realize is pretentious). What I realized during these moments on the Daily Show, however, is that she really isn’t unintelligent. She’s well-spoken and knows the buzz words, but what’s truly startling and unsettling about the way that she speaks is that she speaks with genuine belief that what she is saying is the truth. Unlike in her show when she rants angrily about moments in popular culture, here, she spoke calmly on why she believes certain things, which gave m new perspective.

This newfound perspective certainly made me respect her more but what I still grapple with is how profoundly mistaken she is with her reality. I think what MaKenzie commented on my last post regarding this issue saying that “white ignorance is an active avoidance about information of the Other,” which in the case of Lahren seems to be what he issue is. Noah addresses her with real issues and real data that she truly believes is incorrect. She seems to avoid the alternate side of every argument, which is no way to stay or be informed.

While I could criticize her all day for the way that she thinks and processes information, I think there were a few positives to come from the interview. I was encouraged when she mentioned that even though she ended up supporting Trump in the presidential race, if he continues to make choices she opposes, she will speak out against him. I was also encouraged by the way Noah stumped her on the question “if protests are the incorrect way to voice opposition, then what is the correct way to protest?” When asked this, she often avoided the question which I believe was something she will be thinking on for a while and perhaps one day she will have a substantial answer to.