Not seeing eye to eye. Trevor Noah grilled conservative talking head Tomi Lahren in a now-viral interview from The Daily Show. The South African–born TV personality, 32, challenged Lahren about racism on his politically charged Comedy Central program on Wednesday, November 30.
“I’m in the lion’s den,” said Lahren, 24 — who regularly touts her conservative political opinions on her self-titled show on Glenn Beck’s digital network, TheBlaze — as she joined the host onstage.
Noah began the segment by playing a clip of the commentator blasting post-election anti–Donald Trump protesters as “crybabies with nothing better to do” as a way to introduce his guest to viewers. He immediately followed the video with a question for Lahren: “Why are you so angry?”
“Sometimes, people just need to be called on their s–t. You’re protesting a fair and free election. That to me says you need to be called on your s–t a bit,” replied Lahren, a passionate and vocal Trump supporter. “Time to clear the streets, time to move on, time to make America great again.”
The Comedy Central host then went on to note that Lahren often insists she is not racist — especially for someone who isn’t. The South Dakota native has slammed NFL player Colin Kaepernick for taking a knee during the national anthem in protest of police brutality against African Americans, and she has heavily criticized the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I wish that we could disagree with each other without thinking we are bad people,” Lahren said. “So because I criticize a black person or the Black Lives Matter movement, that doesn’t mean that I’m anti-black or that I’m racist. I’m criticizing a movement. I criticize Colin Kaepernick – that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in his First Amendment rights. I believe in my First Amendment rights to criticize him.”
In response to Lahren’s defense, Noah brought up the fact that she once compared the Black Lives Matter movement to the Ku Klux Klan.
“Do you really believe you’re not being mal-intentioned when you say things like ‘Black Lives Matter is the new KKK’?” Noah asked. “Because you realize Black Lives Matter can’t be the new KKK when the KKK is still around. They have not vacated their premises, and most importantly, to say Black Lives Matter is the new KKK is to really minimize what the KKK did and what they stand for. That is not the same thing.”
To see Lahren’s reaction, watch the interview above.
