Tomi Lahren and Trevor Noah

[plague311]

I'm not sure if anyone else has caught this interview, but it was actually really good. I thought Trevor Noah got in a few cheap shots, but Tomi was kind enough to set them up for him. I really like Trevor Noah, but I know he hasn't been as well received as Jon was back in the day.

I personally think that Tomi is a loud mouthed idiot that just recants the right wing talking points. She's the female version of Rush Limbaugh, and I thought Trevor handed her ******** pretty well. It's a long watch but worth it if you like seeing Tomi fail at answering questions. It's also great to watch her try and explain how she isn't a racist.

Video link

 

[Denver]

From what I recall of the interview, Trevor kept asking her, "If you don't like how the Black Lives Matter movement protests, how do you think they ought to protest?" But she never quite answered it. The next day, she was doing a lot of damage control. In another interview, she got asked the question again and she brought up the football player who was not standing during the anthem, and said he could try VOTING (which I gather he did not).

The best quote of the night I thought was Lahren's. When asked if she considers herself a conservative, she replied, "I'm a millennial so I don't really like labels."

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

From what I recall of the interview, Trevor kept asking her, "If you don't like how the Black Lives Matter movement protests, how do you think they ought to protest?" But she never quite answered it. The next day, she was doing a lot of damage control. In another interview, she got asked the question again and she brought up the football player who was not standing during the anthem, and said he could try VOTING (which I gather he did not).

The best quote of the night I thought was Lahren's. When asked if she considers herself a conservative, she replied, "I'm a millennial so I don't really like labels."

She didn't answer a lot of Trevor's points. Instead of arguing, he moved on to another point and another. If one were to break that transcript down one would find the typical ignorance on the right:

Repeal and replace Obama care.
What would you change?
The mandate.
How do you then pay for people with preexisting conditions?
Dodge.... change the subject... Make America Great Again

Black Lives Matter are going about it all wrong.
What would you have them do?
Dodge.... change the subject... Make America Great Again

Lather rinse repeat.

 

[plague311]

From what I recall of the interview, Trevor kept asking her, "If you don't like how the Black Lives Matter movement protests, how do you think they ought to protest?" But she never quite answered it. The next day, she was doing a lot of damage control. In another interview, she got asked the question again and she brought up the football player who was not standing during the anthem, and said he could try VOTING (which I gather he did not).

The best quote of the night I thought was Lahren's. When asked if she considers herself a conservative, she replied, "I'm a millennial so I don't really like labels."

That was absolutely hilarious. She also did the typical "I can generalize people when referring to BLM, but you better not do it to cops, soldiers, etc." argument style.

 

[marplots]

From what I recall of the interview, Trevor kept asking her, "If you don't like how the Black Lives Matter movement protests, how do you think they ought to protest?" But she never quite answered it. The next day, she was doing a lot of damage control. In another interview, she got asked the question again and she brought up the football player who was not standing during the anthem, and said he could try VOTING (which I gather he did not).

She had a good answer ready to hand if she had thought of it.

"What should they do? They should do interviews like I'm doing now, speak online, offline and in venues where they can get their message out. Not, as this ball player did, at work."

I don't exactly support her positions, but she's never going to take over for Ann Coulter if she can't think of rebuttals on the fly. Maybe she'll get better with practice, but if she doesn't she still has an all-purpose back up when the going gets tough: she can flash her tits.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

She had a good answer ready to hand if she had thought of it.

"What should they do? They should do interviews like I'm doing now, speak online, offline and in venues where they can get their message out. Not, as this ball player did, at work."

Riiight.

And access to said interviews are ripe for the picking.

I don't exactly support her positions, but she's never going to take over for Ann Coulter if she can't think of rebuttals on the fly. Maybe she'll get better with practice, but if she doesn't she still has an all-purpose back up when the going gets tough: she can flash her tits.

Coulter doesn't rebut, she tosses out crowd pleasing insults.

 

[Mumbles]

She had a good answer ready to hand if she had thought of it.

"What should they do? They should do interviews like I'm doing now, speak online, offline and in venues where they can get their message out. Not, as this ball player did, at work."

Not a very useful answer at all, really. Kaepernick, like Lahren, is fairly young and apparently only beginning to think about these issues, and it's very clear that they need to think a lot more about what they're saying. No shock there - Kaepernick only has his platform because he's a pro football player, and Lahren is basically like that 12-year old kid who spoke at CPAC a few years ago.

But in reality, the great majority of BLM members (and members of other groups) only get interviewed because of their public protesting, if they get interviewed at all - they don't stand a chance of getting interviewed anywhere without marching in the street and the like. And it's pretty likely that Kaepernick wouldn't have noticed anything had it not been for the protests, either.

 

[marplots]

Not a very useful answer at all, really. Kaepernick, like Lahren, is fairly young and apparently only beginning to think about these issues, and it's very clear that they need to think a lot more about what they're saying. No shock there - Kaepernick only has his platform because he's a pro football player, and Lahren is basically like that 12-year old kid who spoke at CPAC a few years ago.

But in reality, the great majority of BLM members (and members of other groups) only get interviewed because of their public protesting, if they get interviewed at all - they don't stand a chance of getting interviewed anywhere without marching in the street and the like. And it's pretty likely that Kaepernick wouldn't have noticed anything had it not been for the protests, either.

Considering we are in a venue where opinions are expressed, and on the Internet where opinions are amassed into broad messaging, I don't see why any particular person is denied a chance to express themselves either individually or as part of a cause.

Now, if the idea is that I cannot express myself to a wide audience without doing something to gain attention and be newsworthy, that's fine, so long as we grant that "newsworthy" often means either illegal or outrageously over-the-top. And it often depends on already having some celebrity - the very thing needed to replace "outrageous" and still have a voice.

The whole point of my post though, was to suggest a response that didn't make her look like an idiot in the moment. You don't need to be fully fleshed out, just glib enough to get past the gotcha.

I'm guessing Tomi knew she was going to look bad - Trevor is a skilled comedian, quick on his feet - but took the opportunity anyhow to build her brand, such that it is.

 

[plague311]

Considering we are in a venue where opinions are expressed, and on the Internet where opinions are amassed into broad messaging, I don't see why any particular person is denied a chance to express themselves either individually or as part of a cause.

Now, if the idea is that I cannot express myself to a wide audience without doing something to gain attention and be newsworthy, that's fine, so long as we grant that "newsworthy" often means either illegal or outrageously over-the-top. And it often depends on already having some celebrity - the very thing needed to replace "outrageous" and still have a voice.

The whole point of my post though, was to suggest a response that didn't make her look like an idiot in the moment. You don't need to be fully fleshed out, just glib enough to get past the gotcha.

I'm guessing Tomi knew she was going to look bad - Trevor is a skilled comedian, quick on his feet - but took the opportunity anyhow to build her brand, such that it is.

But did she really "build her brand" by going on The Daily Show? People that like her are going to like her, more because of who she is on the outside rather than the inside. Let's be honest here.

She's over-the-top as well, because all she does is yell and scream. I watched one of her episodes where she interviewed someone else. She's lucky Trevor didn't treat her like she treats people she interviews.

 

[marplots]

But did she really "build her brand" by going on The Daily Show? People that like her are going to like her, more because of who she is on the outside rather than the inside. Let's be honest here.

She's over-the-top as well, because all she does is yell and scream. I watched one of her episodes where she interviewed someone else. She's lucky Trevor didn't treat her like she treats people she interviews.

I think she did build her brand. I know her name now and I didn't know it before.
I'll find some of her stuff (where she screams and treats people badly) and may change my assessment.

Since I don't know her plans and can't predict her career path, I keep switching to Ann Coulter as a metaphor. We know Ann's shtick - pick a controversial conservative position and find something coherent to say about it. She then gets attention and invites, including invites to get beat on by more liberal interviewers.

I have no idea how sincere Coulter is, but it's a living.

So I think you can be made to look bad publicly, so long as the base you are trying to build - your conservative customers - see you as standing up to the "other side." Bad is OK, stupid isn't. I expect Tomi will learn or will disappear.

 

[fishbob]

When talking about the Black Lives Matter movement, one of her statements was that she "didn't see color".
Trevor had a pretty weak response, asking how she dealt with traffic lights.

"Don't see color" was one of Steven Colbert's long running conservo-parody talking points. If only Trevor had asked if she had picked that up from Colbert's show.

 

[Mumbles]

When talking about the Black Lives Matter movement, one of her statements was that she "didn't see color".
Trevor had a pretty weak response, asking how she dealt with traffic lights.

"Don't see color" was one of Steven Colbert's long running conservo-parody talking points. If only Trevor had asked if she had picked that up from Colbert's show.

It's a self-evidently ridiculous thing to say for most people - in my opinion, it doesn't need much of a response (although my favorite is still "so what would happen if you did?"). It's much like her conflating BLM (a non-violent group asking for black people to be treated equally) with the KKK (a terrorist white nationalist group).

Considering we are in a venue where opinions are expressed, and on the Internet where opinions are amassed into broad messaging, I don't see why any particular person is denied a chance to express themselves either individually or as part of a cause.

And another way to do so is to assemble in public and protest.

Although it's worth pointing out that many people only learned about Black Lives matter when the Ferguson police attacked the black community there, not through their own work. This may be why so many people are wildly confused about what it actually is - the Dallas shooter Lahren discussed was angry at BLM, and preferred the violent rhetoric of the New Black Panther Party, as a clear example.

(And I'm giving her benefit of the doubt because of her age - she could simply be a racist herself, but a lot of people at that age are just completely ignorant.)

]I'm guessing Tomi knew she was going to look bad - Trevor is a skilled comedian, quick on his feet - but took the opportunity anyhow to build her brand, such that it is.

And likewise, the Daily Show folks knew that this would get play on the internet, and ratings, which they haven't been getting since Stewart left.

 

[Apathia]

When Noah asked her what she would do by way of protest, she answered that she didn't need to protest, because she wasn't a victim.

I'm not sure how to process that, but there's her privilege she'd deny exists.

 

[The Shrike]

When Noah asked her what she would do by way of protest, she answered that she didn't need to protest, because she wasn't a victim.

^This.

Of course, if she had the experience of being hired by Roger Ailes to be the next photogenic blonde to deliver some Faux News, she might develop a bit of empathy for the victimized.

 

[Mumbles]

When Noah asked her what she would do by way of protest, she answered that she didn't need to protest, because she wasn't a victim.

I'm not sure how to process that, but there's her privilege she'd deny exists.

Also worth noting - the people protesting often not "victims", but are protesting on behalf of actual and potential victims of shootings/chokings/etc. This is why many people who join in with protests against police violence against black people are, themselves, white - and why the entire "Shut up, America lets you be rich!" responses to Kaepernick entirely miss the point. It's a strange, race-tinged (ie. "those people are thugs, don't deserve your protests") demand that the protesters give up on empathy.

 

[KatieG]

Seems to me she's been in training at the (m)Ann Coulter school of **** flinging. Conway must have already graduated.

 

[angrysoba]

From what I recall of the interview, Trevor kept asking her, "If you don't like how the Black Lives Matter movement protests, how do you think they ought to protest?" But she never quite answered it. The next day, she was doing a lot of damage control. In another interview, she got asked the question again and she brought up the football player who was not standing during the anthem, and said he could try VOTING (which I gather he did not).

The best quote of the night I thought was Lahren's. When asked if she considers herself a conservative, she replied, "I'm a millennial so I don't really like labels."

When talking about the Black Lives Matter movement, one of her statements was that she "didn't see color".
Trevor had a pretty weak response, asking how she dealt with traffic lights.

"Don't see color" was one of Steven Colbert's long running conservo-parody talking points. If only Trevor had asked if she had picked that up from Colbert's show.

Funnily enough, the "I don't see colour" line was also immediately contradicted in the same sentence with, "I go after Hillary Clinton and she's as white as they come."

Actually, you can put me down as another who has not been that favourable towards Trevor Noah, but this interview was great. He did a good and useful job here.

 

[Denver]

She had a good answer ready to hand if she had thought of it.

"What should they do? They should do interviews like I'm doing now, speak online, offline and in venues where they can get their message out. Not, as this ball player did, at work."

I don't exactly support her positions, but she's never going to take over for Ann Coulter if she can't think of rebuttals on the fly. Maybe she'll get better with practice, but if she doesn't she still has an all-purpose back up when the going gets tough: she can flash her tits.

She missed coming out the gate too. Trevor's very first question was "Why are you so angry?" After smiling like a deer in headlights, she when on to explain that she really wasn't. What she should have said was, "I'm not angry - I'm passionate"

That was absolutely hilarious. She also did the typical "I can generalize people when referring to BLM, but you better not do it to cops, soldiers, etc." argument style.

One thing that was nice: she actually said out loud the very clear misinformation statement that many against the BLM don't voice: she called it the "Black Lives Matter More" movement.

Conspiracists and others who live and breath and feast on the ambiguous and imprecise nature of the world do exactly this: apply their own filler to make the pieces fit their views. "Black Lives Matter... More" is a perfect example. Where, "Black Lives Matter ... Too" is just as fair, and more so if you actually listen to the majority of protesters.

 

[Apathia]

^This.

Of course, if she had the experience of being hired by Roger Ailes to be the next photogenic blonde to deliver some Faux News, she might develop a bit of empathy for the victimized.

I wouldn't wish any such experience on her.
She reminds me of a friend I have who is also angry at the impositions these African-Americans and LGBT+ people are trying to make on our society. He asks why they can't keep their mouths shut. He's never seen outside his bubble of white comfort.

 

[Apathia]

Also worth noting - the people protesting often not "victims", but are protesting on behalf of actual and potential victims of shootings/chokings/etc. This is why many people who join in with protests against police violence against black people are, themselves, white - and why the entire "Shut up, America lets you be rich!" responses to Kaepernick entirely miss the point. It's a strange, race-tinged (ie. "those people are thugs, don't deserve your protests") demand that the protesters give up on empathy.

Yes. I don't regularly listen to Toni Lahren, but her outrage reminds me of a friend who is so put off by "these people" African-Americans and LGBT+ whom he feels have nothing substantial to moan about. He's in a perpetual bubble of white comfort and a "post-racism" America where he has no grievance himself, so why should others. My attempts to open his eyes have always failed.