There’s no doubt that Trevor Noah’s recent interview of Tomi Lahren has caused quite the firestorm online. With conservatives and liberals alike tweeting up a frenzy, it seems like everyone in the world is caught up in the controversy. Starting out with a clip of Lahren critiquing protestors of the President-elect, the meet-up quickly became heated.
Noah seemed to stun Lahren by surprising her with a simple yet pointed question. “Why are you so angry?” Flummoxed by the question and then denying that she is angry, Lahren went on to claim that she represents others who feel the same way. As Noah continued on with his direct line of questioning, Lahren seemed to become visibly perturbed. As soon as he asked a question about her use of the phrase “Make America Great Again”, the Trump supporter began to fidget. Noah then harkened back to Lahren’s tweet on the day in which Trump’s horrific “Access Hollywood” interview had come to light. She tweeted her support of Mike Pence but mentioned nothing about the now President-elect’s brazen comments regarding his past assault of women.
The conversation then moved onto the topic of Trump’s business conflicts, with Noah rightfully pointing out that the Trump organization is already beholden to some foreign powers. When she was questioned about Trump’s ability to take away Obamacare, Lahren then went on to describe the former reality star as “reasonable and level-headed”. This statement caused Noah and his entire audience to erupt in laughter, after which Noah pointed out that Trump’s behavior on Twitter would negate that assertion.
Just when it seems as if the interview couldn’t become any more electrified, Noah then brings up the Black Lives Matter movement—and the fact that “for someone who isn’t a racist, you have to spend a lot of time saying you’re not a racist.” The audience erupted once again when Lahren said that the Black Lives Matter movement was defined by the mentally ill man who gunned down police officers then claimed to be doing so in the name of Black Lives Matter. Noah quickly turned this logic around on Lahren and destroyed her argument by repeating the Trump camp’s statement that just because they had supporters in the KKK, it didn’t mean that he himself supported the racist organization.
After this fiery discussion, the talk quickly turns to Lahren’s responsibility as a member of the mainstream media. When Noah pointed out that the sheer volume of views on her videos—and the fact that Trump won—has minted her as a member of the mainstream media, Lahren bristled but was unable to refute his argument with a decent rebuttal.
Later on, when Lahren claimed that she “doesn’t see color,” Noah quickly shot back with a sharp retort asking her what she does at a traffic light. Afterwards, during a debate regarding football player Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem, Lahren blasted Noah for not allowing her to express her opinion because she’s white. Circling back to her earlier statement, he quickly replied that he doesn’t see color, either.
Noah closed the interview by asking about Lahren’s views on immigration. He then asked her if she believes that refugees have the right to complain. When Lahren made a strange analogy about immigrants coming into the country, Noah delivered a terrific response. “This isn’t Taco Bell; it’s immigration,” he replied.
All in all, the interview was a definite win for Trevor Noah. Although she always gets in the last word on her own show, it certainly seemed as if Tomi Lahren was speechless during several points of this interview.