Tomi Lahren: I'm Brave Enough to Put Myself in a Position Where I'm Going to be Attacked

December 01, 2016

WRITER

A ridiculously-titled article from GQ Magazine labels Tomi Lahren of TheBlaze the 'queen of the alt-right.' The article follows an on-air interview Tomi did as a guest on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

"That is a ridiculous title for her. She was a Marco Rubio supporter. There's no evidence of that at all," Co-host Stu Burguiere said Thursday on The Glenn Beck Program.

Additionally, during the interview with Noah, the host deliberately misinterpreted Tomi's comments about the Ku Klux Klan, painting her as downplaying or being ignorant of the group's horrific activities.

"This is what I'm trying desperately to beg the press not to do. Please, no one will listen to who the alt-right is. This is five percent of the right. No one will listen to who those people are if you paint the brush that everyone is alt-right. Because they're not. Tomi Lahren is not," Glenn said.

Tomi joined Glenn on air to discuss the interview with Trevor Noah and how she's ready, willing and able to take the heat.

Listen to this segment from The Glenn Beck Program:

Below is a rush transcript of this segment, it might contain errors:

GLENN: Listen to the first hour of the podcast today, where we showed you what happened with Tomi Lahren last night in GQ, based on a Trevor Noah interview on The Daily Show. Which, he is just horrible.

But she was denounced as the queen of the alt-right. Tomi Lahren is not an alt-righter. She is not. And -- she is a Marco Rubio supporter, for the love of Pete.

And while we disagree on a lot of things, this is why Donald Trump won. Because people are so sick of the press getting away, editing, and saying whatever they want. The big gotcha moment was her saying -- and I'm just going to give it to you like the press is, "So what did the KKK do?"

What did the KKK -- well, if you don't know, I can't help you. That's the way the press is reporting it.

Let me give it to you in context. Look at what Black Lives Matter is doing. They're calling for the death of a group of people. They are terrorizing people. They are setting cities on fire. Well, tell me, what did the KKK do?

Well, gee, now, that's different, isn't it?

STU: Yeah.

GLENN: And that's why the press is despised. And until the press corrals themselves and starts looking at themselves, nobody is going to listen to them when they say, "This person is good. This person is bad."

Tomi Lahren is with us now from the Blaze. Hello, Tomi, how are you?

TOMI: I'm doing well. Thank you, Glenn.

You know, we're used to this as conservatives. We're used to this as being outside of the mainstream idea. So I knew -- I had an idea that this was probably going happen. But at least we put ourselves out there, right?

GLENN: No. And I actually thought you did well.

PAT: Yeah.

GLENN: And actually so did GQ. I mean, GQ wanted to hate you. You know, they took their typical shots, but they couldn't even hate you. In fact, they said you didn't give them the stereotypical angry, you know, right-wing hatemonger that they were obviously wanting.

TOMI: Well, I smiled through the whole thing.

And I have to say, the way that some of Trevor Noah's fans and others on the left and what have you are responding to me is vile in many ways. I've seen Twitter.

But Trevor himself, after the show, I was actually very impressed with the way he handled me. He said, "Hey, you know, I know we disagree on a lot of things, but I'm glad we could have the conversation."

Same thing happened with a few folks from the left today saying, "Hey, I think you did a good job. We disagree, but you held your own." I smiled through the whole thing. I was in obviously a tough crowd. I don't think that there was a conservative or a supporter in the crowd.

GLENN: Oh, no.

PAT: No way.

TOMI: And I just smiled and -- and took it. Because at least I'm brave enough to put myself in a position where I'm going to be attacked. And I think I held my own. And I'm happy with it.

GLENN: Oh, I think you did more than hold your own, myself. And Trevor Noah was -- I mean, he's just horrible. And I'm sure he's a nice guy and everything else. But he was just horrible.

And when it came to you -- we seem to feel this way. Did you feel this way? It was like he wasn't even looking at you. He couldn't make eye contact with you.

TOMI: He -- I think -- and I don't want to speak for him because I don't know what's in his heart and his mind. But I feel that a lot of times -- and you know this better than anyone, Glenn: The liberals, they want to come at you. They want to demonize you. And so they don't want to humanize you. They don't want to look at you and say, "Hey, you're an actual person." They want to look at you and say, "You're a racist. You're a bigot. You're the alt-right." And if they look at you and actually engage with you, it makes it harder for them to put you in that pigeonhole. So I think there's some of that going on.

PAT: Yeah. Yeah.

GLENN: Wow.

TOMI: I tried to laugh. I tried to have a good conversation. On the outset, I was told it was supposed to be late night comedy. We were supposed to have fun and disagree.

And then sat down, and right in with, "Why are you so angry?" And I sat down thinking, "I'm not angry. I'm typically a pretty happy person. But I guess if we want to go there right off the bat, that's fine. I'll play that game."

PAT: Tomi, did you ever ask anybody on the staff when did Trevor Noah ever engage in comedy?

(laughter)

PAT: Did you ever ask that question? Because that's a legitimate --

GLENN: Yeah, because we haven't seen any comedy coming from him. And neither has America. Neither did GQ.

They said, "It wasn't funny. But that was okay." Yeah, it's only okay because it's Trevor Noah. That's what you expect. But anyway...

TOMI: But to disagree with a liberal or you disagree with anyone on the left or anyone in Black Lives Matter or whatever, you disagree with them, and you're automatically a racist. They disagree with you, and they're a social justice warrior. And they really came at you, and they did, you know, some kind of a great deed for their cause. But as soon as I open my mouth -- it doesn't matter what I would have said. If I would have went out there and said, "I love the Black Lives Matter movement," it wouldn't have mattered. I mean, they were already determined to paint me the way that they wanted to. And at the end of the day, we're used to it. So I'm not going to cry myself to sleep.

STU: Tomi, I know that they heavily edited the interview. I think it was 26 minutes long, and they only aired maybe six minutes of it.

GLENN: What a surprise.

STU: So there was a lot taken out of it.

But one of the more amazing parts of what they showed on TV was he repeatedly said to you he could not understand your point. He -- and he kept saying it. I can't understand it. I've tried so many times to understand your point, that Colin Kaepernick, the NFL quarterback who kneeled during the national anthem to protest it, your point was, he has a First Amendment right to do it, but I disagree with him doing it.

How can you be for speech and against speech? He legitimately could not comprehend that point.

Did he ever at any point clarify, or did you ever get to an understanding on what seems to be a pretty basic First Amendment point?

TOMI: Well, he wouldn't listen to me. And that's the thing, he kept saying -- and everyone still says today, "You didn't answer his question. How is a black man supposed to protest?"

Again, I was telling him, I'm not talking about his right to protest. I'm saying, I think the way he did it and the outlet in which he chose to express it, being our flag and our anthem, was wrong in my opinion, and I voiced that.

But he didn't want to listen to what I said. And then he just kept continuing, "How should a black man protest?"

Well, Trevor, quite honestly, Colin Kaepernick didn't vote, so there is one way that a black man can protest in an appropriate way. I mean, that would be a start, right?

But it's all -- it's all their narrative. I don't think it would have mattered what I would have said.

PAT: Uh-huh.

TOMI: Because the left, they fail to understand because they don't want to understand. I -- you and I both have this in common: We legitimately want to understand the worldview of the left, of the liberals, of opposing views. We want to put ourselves in that position to strengthen our own arguments.

The left doesn't seem concerned with doing that. They are happy where they sit. They are happy and comfortable, and they feel like they're martyrs for the cause.

But I think like you said at the beginning, that's changing now. You know, we've got Donald Trump as president. Love him or hate him, you've got a lot of Americans that voted for him and, like you said, that are just sick and tired of this crap.

PAT: Uh-huh.

TOMI: We are tired of being labeled. We are tired of being scapegoated for everything. And we're tired of not being listened to. So the times are changing. And I think that the Trevor Noahs of the world are going to start seeing that.

GLENN: Well, here's the thing: I was really impressed with Penn Jillette when he went to the atheist, what was that? Reason rally.

TOMI: Yeah.

PAT: Yeah. They do every year.

GLENN: And it's all these atheists. And he got up. And what he said was really, I thought, impressive.

He said, "We cannot hate or treat people the way we feel we've been treated. We feel that we were yelled at, called names, and everything else. We can't do that to anyone."

In other words, let's love our Christian brothers and our Hindu brothers and everybody else who said, you know, atheists are bad people. Let's show them how we should react.

Do you feel you did that last night with Trevor Noah?

TOMI: Right. I think I smiled through it. We had a good conversation after the fact. I don't have any beef with the guy. I expected it to be that way.

And, you know what, at least they were kind enough to have me on the show. I appreciate that much.

Sometimes, as you know, they attack us, and they don't even bring us on. And they just want to attack us. So at least he brought me on. I hope to do more of these things. I hope that they --

GLENN: You realize, though, Tomi --

TOMI: What's that?

GLENN: You realize -- you realize that you don't need them. They need you. You know that, right?

TOMI: Well, and there was a part -- if you look at the extended interview, where he tried to tell me that I was now the mainstream because I pulled big numbers on Facebook. That doesn't make me the mainstream. It means that I'm more viewed than you are, but that doesn't mean I'm the mainstream.

GLENN: Right.

TOMI: I've been able to dupe the mainstream. So that doesn't make me a part of it. It makes me smarter than it.

(laughter)

GLENN: Tomi, was it worth doing?

TOMI: It was. Any time you're able to have these conversations, it's worth doing. At least it got people talking.

Like I told him last night, I could have gone on Fox News and then watched them kiss my butt. I chose not to do that. I chose to put myself in an environment where I knew I'd be challenged, and I will never regret that.

GLENN: Okay. Tomi Lahren, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

PAT: That's great.

TOMI: Thanks, Glenn.

GLENN: Tomi Lahren. You bet. From TheBlaze. An up-and-coming, I mean, media powerhouse.

Featured Image: Screenshot of Tomi Lahren with Trevor Noah on The Daily Show.

Washington Post EXPOSED: How Watergate editors almost published a fake Pulitzer Prize-winning story

Episode 6 of Glenn’s new history podcast series The Beck Story releases this Saturday.

This latest installment explores the history of Left-wing bias in mainstream media. Like every episode of this series, episode 6 is jam-packed with historical detail, but you can’t squeeze in every story, so some inevitably get cut from the final version. Part of this episode involves the late Ben Bradlee, who was the legendary editor of the Washington Post. Bradlee is legendary mostly because of the Watergate investigation that was conducted on his watch by two young reporters named Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Bradlee, Woodward, and Bernstein became celebrities after the release of the book and movie based on their investigation called All the President’s Men.

But there is another true story about the Washington Post that you probably won’t see any time soon at a theater near you.

In 1980, Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee wanted to expand the Post’s readership in the black community. The paper made an effort to hire more minority journalists, like Janet Cooke, a black female reporter from Ohio. Cooke was an aggressive reporter and a good writer. She was a fast-rising star on a staff already full of stars. The Post had a very competitive environment and Cooke desperately wanted to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Readers were hooked. And outraged.

When Cooke was asked to work on a story about the D.C. area’s growing heroin problem, she saw her chance to win that Pulitzer. As she interviewed people in black neighborhoods that were hardest hit by the heroin epidemic, she was appalled to learn that even some children were heroin addicts. When she learned about an eight-year-old heroin addict named Jimmy, she knew she had her hook. His heartbreaking story would surely be her ticket to a Pulitzer.

Cooke wrote her feature story, titling it, “Jimmy’s World.” It blew away her editors at the Post, including Bob Woodward, who by then was Assistant Managing Editor. “Jimmy’s World” would be a front-page story:

'Jimmy is 8 years old and a third-generation heroin addict,' Cooke’s story began, 'a precocious little boy with sandy hair, velvety brown eyes and needle marks freckling the baby-smooth skin of his thin brown arms. He nestles in a large, beige reclining chair in the living room of his comfortably furnished home in Southeast Washington. There is an almost cherubic expression on his small, round face as he talks about life – clothes, money, the Baltimore Orioles and heroin. He has been an addict since the age of 5.'

Readers were hooked. And outraged. The mayor’s office instructed the police to immediately search for Jimmy and get him medical treatment. But no one was able to locate Jimmy. Cooke wasn’t surprised. She told her editors at the Post that she had only been able to interview Jimmy and his mother by promising them anonymity. She also revealed that the mother’s boyfriend had threatened Cooke’s life if the police discovered Jimmy’s whereabouts.

A few months later, Cooke’s hard work paid off and her dream came true – her story was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. Cooke had to submit some autobiographical information to the Prize committee, but there was a slight snag. The committee contacted the Post when they couldn’t verify that Cooke had graduated magna cum laude from Vassar College. Turns out she only attended Vassar her freshman year. She actually graduated from the University of Toledo with a B.A. degree, not with a master’s degree as she told the Pulitzer committee.

Cooke’s editors summoned her for an explanation. Unfortunately for Cooke and the Washington Post, her resume flubs were the least of her lies. After hours of grilling, Cooke finally confessed that “Jimmy’s World” was entirely made up. Jimmy did not exist.

The Pulitzer committee withdrew its prize and Cooke resigned in shame. The Washington Post, the paper that uncovered Watergate – the biggest political scandal in American history – failed to even vet Cooke’s resume. Then it published a front-page, Pulitzer Prize-winning feature story that was 100 percent made up.

Remarkably, neither Ben Bradlee nor Bob Woodward resigned over the incident. It was a different time, but also, the halo of All the President’s Men probably saved them.

Don’t miss the first five episodes of The Beck Story, which are available now. And look for Episode 6 this Saturday, wherever you get your podcasts.

5 Democrats who have endorsed Kamala (and two who haven't)

Zach Gibson / Stringer, Brandon Bell / Staff | Getty Images

With Biden removed from the 2024 election and only a month to find a replacement before the DNC, Democrats continue to fall in line and back Vice President Kamala Harris to headline the party's ticket. Her proximity and familiarity with the Biden campaign along with an endorsement from Biden sets Harris up to step into Biden's shoes and preserve the momentum from his campaign.

Glenn doesn't think Kamala Harris is likely to survive as the assumed Democratic nominee, and once the DNC starts, anything could happen. Plenty of powerful and important Democrats have rallied around Harris over the last few days, but there have been some crucial exemptions. Here are five democrats that have thrown their name behind Harris, and two SHOCKING names that didn't...

Sen. Dick Durbin: ENDORSED

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High-ranking Senate Democrat Dick Durbin officially put in his support for Harris in a statement that came out the day after Biden stepped down: “I’m proud to endorse my former Senate colleague and good friend, Vice President Kamala Harris . . . our nation needs to continue moving forward with unity and not MAGA chaos. Vice President Harris was a critical partner in building the Biden record over the past four years . . . Count me in with Kamala Harris for President.”

Michigan Gov. Whitmer: ENDORSED

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The Monday after Biden stepped down from the presidential VP hopeful, Gretchen Whitmer released the following statement on X: “Today, I am fired up to endorse Kamala Harris for president of the United States [...] In Vice President Harris, Michigan voters have a presidential candidate they can count on to focus on lowering their costs, restoring their freedoms, bringing jobs and supply chains back home from overseas, and building an economy that works for working people.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: ENDORSED

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Mere hours after Joe Biden made his announcement, AOC hopped on X and made the following post showing her support: "Kamala Harris will be the next President of the United States. I pledge my full support to ensure her victory in November. Now more than ever, it is crucial that our party and country swiftly unite to defeat Donald Trump and the threat to American democracy. Let’s get to work."

Rep. Nancy Pelosi: ENDORSED

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Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is arguably one of the most influential democrats, backed Harris's campaign with the following statement given the day after Biden's decision: “I have full confidence she will lead us to victory in November . . . My enthusiastic support for Kamala Harris for President is official, personal, and political.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren: ENDORSED

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Massasschesets Senator Elizabeth Warren was quick to endorse Kamala, releasing the following statement shortly after Harris placed her presidential bid: "I endorse Kamala Harris for President. She is a proven fighter who has been a national leader in safeguarding consumers and protecting access to abortion. As a former prosecutor, she can press a forceful case against allowing Donald Trump to regain the White House. We have many talented people in our party, but Vice President Harris is the person who was chosen by the voters to succeed Joe Biden if needed. She can unite our party, take on Donald Trump, and win in November."

Former President Barack Obama: DID NOT ENDORSE

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Former President Barack Obama wasted no time releasing the following statement which glaringly omits any support for Harris or any other candidate. Instead, he suggests someone will be chosen at the DNC in August: "We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. I believe that Joe Biden's vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August. And I expect that every single one of us are prepared to carry that message of hope and progress forward into November and beyond."

Prominent Democratic Donor John Morgan: DID NOT ENDORSE

AP Photo/John Raoux

Prominent and wealthy Florida lawyer and democrat donor John Morgan was clearly very pessimistic about Kamala's odds aginst Trump when he gave the following statement: “You have to be enthusiastic or hoping for a political appointment to be asking friends for money. I am neither. It’s others turn now . . . The donors holding the 90 million can release those funds in the morning. It’s all yours. You can keep my million. And good luck . . . [Harris] would not be my first choice, but it’s a done deal.”

How did Trump's would-be assassin get past Secret Service?

PATRICK T. FALLON / Contributor | Getty Images

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday was targeted in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. It occurred just after 6:10 p.m. while Trump was delivering his speech.

Here are the details of the “official” story. The shooter was Thomas Matthew Crooks. He was 20 years old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. He used an AR-15 rifle and managed to reach the rooftop of a nearby building unnoticed. The Secret Service's counter-response team responded swiftly, according to "the facts," killing Crooks and preventing further harm.

Did it though? That’s what the official story says, so far, but calling this a mere lapse in security by Secret Service doesn't add up. There are some glaring questions that need to be answered.

If Trump had been killed on Saturday, we would be in a civil war today. We would have seen for the first time the president's brains splattered on live television, and because of the details of this, I have a hard time thinking it wouldn't have been viewed as JFK 2.0.

How does someone sneak a rifle onto the rally grounds? How does someone even know that that building is there? How is it that Thomas Matthew Crooks was acting so weird and pacing in front of the metal detectors, and no one seemed to notice? People tried to follow him, but, oops, he got away.

How could the kid possibly even think that the highest ground at the venue wouldn't be watched? If I were Crooks, my first guess would be, "That’s the one place I shouldn't crawl up to with a rifle because there's most definitely going to be Secret Service there." Why wasn't anyone there? Why wasn't anyone watching it? Nobody except the shooter decided that the highest ground with the best view of the rally would be the greatest vulnerability to Trump’s safety.

Moreover, a handy ladder just happened to be there. Are we supposed to believe that nobody in the Secret Service, none of the drones, none of the things we pay millions of dollars for caught him? How did he get a ladder there? If the ladder was there, was it always there? Why was the ladder there? Secret Service welds manhole covers closed when a president drives down a road. How was there a ladder sitting around, ready to climb up to the highest ground at the venue, and the Secret Service failed to take it away?

There is plenty of video of eyewitnesses yelling that there was a guy with a rifle climbing up on a ladder to the roof for at least 120 seconds before the first shot was fired. Why were the police looking for him while Secret Service wasn't? Why did the sniper have him in his sights for over a minute before he took a shot? Why did a cop climb up the ladder to look around? When Thomas Matthew Cooks pointed a gun at him, he then ducked and came down off the ladder. Did he call anyone to warn that this young man had a rifle within range of the president?

How is it the Secret Service has a female bodyguard who doesn't even reach Trump's nipples? How was she going to guard the president's body with hers? How is it another female Secret Service agent pulled her gun out a good four minutes too late, then looked around, apparently not knowing what to do? She then couldn't even get the pistol back into the holster because she's a Melissa McCarthy body double. I don't think it's a good idea to have Melissa McCarthy guarding the president.

Here’s the critical question now: Who trusts the FBI with the shooter’s computer? Will his hard drive get filed with the Nashville manifesto? How is it that the Secret Service almost didn't have snipers at all but decided to supply them only one day before the rally because all the local resources were going to be put on Jill Biden? I want Jill Biden safe, of course. I want Jill Biden to have what the first lady should have for security, but you can’t hire a few extra guys to make sure our candidates are safe?

How is it that we have a Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, whose experience is literally guarding two liters of Squirt and spicy Doritos? Did you know that's her background? She's in charge of the United States Secret Service, and her last job was as the head of security for Pepsi.

This is a game, and that's what makes this sick. This is a joke. There are people in our country who thought it was OK to post themselves screaming about the shooter’s incompetence: “How do you miss that shot?” Do you realize how close we came to another JFK? If the president hadn't turned his head at the exact moment he did, it would have gone into the center of his head, and we would be a different country today.

Now, Joe Biden is also saying that we shouldn't make assumptions about the motive of the shooter. Well, I think we can assume one thing: He wanted to kill the Republican presidential candidate. Can we agree on that at least? Can we assume that much?

How can the media even think of blaming Trump for the rhetoric when the Democrats and the media constantly call him literally worse than Hitler who must be stopped at all costs?

These questions need to be answered if we want to know the truth behind what could have been one of the most consequential days in U.S. history. Yet, the FBI has its hands clasped on all the sources that could point to the truth. There must be an independent investigation to get to the bottom of these glaring “mistakes.”

POLL: Do you think Trump is going to win the election?

Kevin Dietsch / Staff, Chip Somodevilla / Staff, Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Image

It feels like all of the tension that has been building over the last four years has finally burst to the surface over the past month. Many predicted 2024 was going to be one of the most important and tumultuous elections in our lifetimes, but the last two weeks will go down in the history books. And it's not over yet.

The Democratic National Convention is in August, and while Kamala seems to be the likely candidate to replace Biden, anything could happen in Chicago. And if Biden is too old to campaign, isn't he too old to be president? Glenn doesn't think he'll make it as President through January, but who knows?

There is a lot of uncertainty that surrounds the current political landscape. Trump came out of the attempted assassination, and the RNC is looking stronger than ever, but who knows what tricks the Democrats have up their sleeves? Let us know your predictions in the poll below:

Glenn's Show Prep

Tomi Lahren: I'm Brave Enough to Put Myself in a Position Where I'm Going to be Attacked

Washington Post EXPOSED: How Watergate editors almost published a fake Pulitzer Prize-winning story

Readers were hooked. And outraged.

5 Democrats who have endorsed Kamala (and two who haven't)

Sen. Dick Durbin: ENDORSED

Michigan Gov. Whitmer: ENDORSED

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: ENDORSED

Rep. Nancy Pelosi: ENDORSED

Sen. Elizabeth Warren: ENDORSED

Former President Barack Obama: DID NOT ENDORSE

Prominent Democratic Donor John Morgan: DID NOT ENDORSE

How did Trump's would-be assassin get past Secret Service?

POLL: Do you think Trump is going to win the election?

Is Trump going to win the election?

Did the assassination attempt increase Trump's chances at winning in November?

Did Trump's pick of J.D. Vance help his odds?

Did the Trump-Biden debate in June help Trump's chances?

Did Biden's resignation from the election hand Trump a victory in November?

Do the Democrats have any chance of winning this election?