When Tomi Lahren’s “Final Thoughts” video first popped up on my Facebook feed, auto-playing with the volume off, all I saw was a beautiful, young blonde who looked extremely put together and professional. Once I turned on the volume, what I was hearing was something completely different from what I expected as Tomi shouted her hateful beliefs at me through my computer screen.
If you have no idea who I’m talking about, that’s probablay for the better. At only 24-years old, Tomi Lahren has generated more hate in the last few months than I have ever seen before. Lahren unapologetically touts her hateful, ignorant opinions for anyone on the internet to see during her short show titled “Final Thoughts.” Obviously, the backlash has been intense. In the 3-minutes Lahren’s videos are typically given, she manages to jam-pack them with sweeping claims and aggressive assumptions that have grabbed the attention of millions of people across America.
Lahren’s deeply conservative views are one thing, sure you can have your own beliefs, but the way she publically voices her opinions is another. Instead of using rational logic and truly trying to make viewers understand her conservative views, she shouts into the camera hateful and absurd comments. I first came across Lahren in her video on Beyoncé’s Superbowl performance. She started this video by stating that the Black Lives Matter movement promotes the idea that black lives matter more, which is incorrect. Yet, this is how Lahren formulates her arguments in her videos—with false ideas that she deems facts. Lahren also wrote in a tweet (which has now been deleted), “Meet the new KKK, they call themselves ‘Black Lives Matter’ but make no mistake their goals are far from equality.” If that’s not a strikingly incorrect and absolutely insane claim, I don’t know what is—but these are the kinds of ideas Lahren’s show promotes. Need another example? After Jesse William’s BET Awards speech, Lahren stated that people like him and Beyoncé are working to divide America, claiming the equality they’re pushing for is actually just “special treatment.”
These instances are only a few that stick out to me, but they stand as a good basis for understanding Tomi Lahren. Lahren has this “talent” to turn anything around to fit her view point, twisting words, events and history to continue to allow her perpetuation of hate. I understand that many people in this world have different views, and we are all entitled to our own opinions, but when you are on a massive social media platform preaching lies and spewing hatred that’s when we have a problem. Lahren’s commentary may be entertaining for some, but her words are extremely harmful and inflammatory. The comments she makes are reckless and are in no way empowering or helping society improve. Yet, people don’t just respond to Tomi’s video with disgust…some support her claims! What gives Lahren’s videos momentum isn’t just shock at her words but an actual belief in them. Her speaking out with her racist ideals may give other people the initiative to do the same. Thus, Lahren is, in my opinion, instigating the spread of hate. Yes, we all have the freedom to express our perspectives, but at what cost to those around us?
I hope that one day (SOON!) Lahren recognizes the significance of the platform she is on and learns to think before she screams into a camera for millions to see. Millions of people watch her videos, and I can only hope that she realizes the impact that her hateful mindset has on this world.