Tomi Lahren | |
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 Lahren in 2018 | |
| Born | Tomi Rae Augustus Lahren[1] (1992-08-11)August 11, 1992 (age 32) Rapid City, South Dakota, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Nevada, Las Vegas (BA) |
| Occupation | Political commentator |
| Employer | Fox News Channel |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
Tomi Rae Augustus Lahren (/ˈtɒmiˈlærən/; born August 11, 1992) is an Americanconservative political commentator and television presenter.[2] She hostedTomi onTheBlaze, where she gained attention for her short video segments called "Final Thoughts", in which she frequently criticizedliberal politics.[3] Many of her videos wentviral, withThe New York Times describing her as "theRight's rising media star".[4] Lahren was suspended from TheBlaze in March 2017 after saying in an interview onThe View that she believed women should havelegal access to abortion.[5]
Shortly thereafter, she began working forGreat America Alliance, an advocacy organization that supportsDonald Trump,[6] and, in August 2017, she joinedFox News, where she appears as a contributor on several different shows across the Fox News and Fox Business networks, and often appears as a guest co-host onOutnumbered andThe Big Weekend Show,[7] and currently hosts a talk show onFox Nation,No Interruption. In June 2022, she was named host of a new show onOutKick calledTomi Lahren Is Fearless.[8]
Lahren grew up inRapid City, South Dakota, and graduated fromCentral High School in 2010.[9][10] She is ofGerman andNorwegian descent.[11] Lahren's parents both came from families who ownedranches.[12] She graduated fromUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2014 with a B.A. in broadcast journalism and political science.[13] Lahren hosted and associate produced the university's political roundtable showThe Scramble.[14] She interned forRepublican CongresswomanKristi Noem from South Dakota, serving as the first intern at Noem's Rapid City office.[15]
Hoping to find an internship in political commentary, Lahren applied toOne America News Network (OANN), obtained an interview, and was instead offered the opportunity to host her own show. She moved toSan Diego, California, and began working for OANN.On Point with Tomi Lahren debuted in August 2014.[16][9][17]
In July 2015, a video of her commentary on the2015 Chattanooga shootings garnered widespread attention.[18] On August 19, Lahren announced that she had completed her last show with OANN. She moved to Texas and began a new show withTheBlaze in November 2015. She became known for ending her program with three-minute segments called "Final Thoughts", in which she spoke extremely quickly. These segments became widely popular on social media.[19]
In January 2016, Lahren endorsedMarco Rubio for president in theRepublican Party presidential primary.[20][21] On November 30, Lahren appeared onThe Daily Show with Trevor Noah for a 26-minute interview. Many critics compared her appearance to former hostJon Stewart's friendly rivalry withBill O'Reilly.[22][23][24]
On March 17, 2017, Lahren made a guest appearance onThe View in which she said that women should have access toabortion and that she would be a hypocrite if she supported both "limited government and also government restrictions on abortion".[25] TheBlaze's owner,Glenn Beck, who isanti-abortion, criticized Lahren for her comments and suspended her with pay,[5][26] leading Lahren to file awrongful termination suit.[27][28][29] The suit was settled under an agreement in which Lahren kept herFacebook page but removed videos she had made with TheBlaze.[30]
In May 2017, Lahren began working in communications at Great America Alliance, an offshoot ofGreat America PAC, a large pro-Donald Trumpsuper PAC chaired byNewt Gingrich andRudy Giuliani. Lahren described her role there as a "side gig" and said she would return to television as a commentator.[6] In August 2017, Lahren joinedFox News as a contributor.[13]
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Lahren describes herself as a "constitutional conservative".[31] She has said that she is a commentator, not a journalist,[32] and that her shows are not about presenting news neutrally, but about commentary and "mak[ing] the news".[19] Lahren has been described as an "anti-feminist who admires strong women."[19] She has said that while she does not consider herself a feminist,[33] she believes in women's empowerment and looks up to various women from both the political left and the political right.[19]
In March 2017, Lahren said she waspro-abortion rights, sparking criticism from a number ofanti-abortion writers.[34] TheBlaze owner Glenn Beck, among others, noted that Lahren had previously publicly said she was anti-abortion, in addition to numerous other inconsistencies on other issues.[28] Soon thereafter, Lahren toldPlayboy that she had always supported abortion rights as a matter of national law but was personally against abortion.[35][36]
While in college, Lahren wrote a feature for theLas Vegas Review-Journal about a classmate who had turned to stripping to support herself.[37][38]
Lahren is also in favor ofsame-sex marriage.[39] In June 2020, she supported Supreme Court justiceNeil Gorsuch's vote and majority opinion in the combined cases ofBostock v. Clayton County,Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda, andR.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, ruling that businesses cannot fireLGBTQ people for their sexuality or gender identity. Lahren stated, "You can be Christian, conservative, and a proud Trump supporter and believe people should not be fired for who they love. Conservative doesn't come in one flavor, one race, one religion, one gender or one sexuality ... and I won't sit by quietly and allow certain self-righteous and self-appointed and anointed conservative thought policemen make that decree."[40]
Some of Lahren's commentaries on race issues have been described by critics as racist or race-baiting, which she disputes.[4] In July 2016, Lahren posted a tweet comparing theBlack Lives Matter movement to theKu Klux Klan.[19] Tens of thousands of people signed aChange.org petition in response asking for her to be fired fromTheBlaze.[41] The petition was unsuccessful. In August 2016, she released a video criticizingNFLquarterbackColin Kaepernick, who had been protestingpolice brutality bykneeling during the playing of the national anthem before football games.[4]
In August 2018, at a political rally forKelli Ward, Lahren warned against voters electing 'RINOs' (Republicans in name only) into Congress; the term was applied to SenatorsJohn McCain andJeff Flake.[42] Lahren was criticized as cruel and disrespectful as McCain was in very poor health; that day he discontinued medical treatment for brain cancer, and he died the next day. Many people have criticized Lahren for her behavior including former Fox News anchorGreta Van Susteren.[43][44]
In November 2018, Lahren said that the "highlight" of her Thanksgiving had been watchingUnited States Border Patrol firetear gas at migrants trying to illegally cross over the Mexico–United States border.[45][46][47] In December 2018, she ran a Fox Nation segment focusing on how members of aCentral American migrant caravan that had been stopped in Mexico that year were carrying diseases; she listed several unconfirmed cases ofHIV/AIDS andchickenpox to support the claim.[47][48]
In June 2019, Lahren announced onInstagram that she was engaged to her boyfriend, Brandon Fricke.[49] Their engagement was called off in 2020.[50] In early 2021, Lahren was linked to fellow Fox broadcaster and formerMajor League Baseball catcherJ. P. Arencibia.[51] On September 25, 2021, Lahren confirmed that she was engaged on an episode ofJustice with Judge Jeanine. They were married October 21, 2022.[52] Lahren owns "achihuahua mutt named Kota."[12]
In April 2020, Lahren moved fromLos Angeles toNashville.[53]
Lahren is an avid runner, and has a tattoo of a wheat leaf and South Dakota's state flower (thepulsatilla) on the back of her neck, as well as a tattoo of "roman numeral 11 with a semicolon", since eleven is her lucky number.[12]
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