Conservative Pundit Tomi Lahren Calls Pro-Lifers 'Hypocrites' on 'The View,' Could Leave 'The Blaze'
Rising conservative icon Tomi Lahren could be out of her position at The Blaze after arguing on ABC's "The View" that it's hypocritical for conservatives to be pro-life and for limited government.
"I'm pro choice, and here's why," Lahren said in an appearance on ABC's "The View" on Friday.
"I am a constitutional, y'know, someone that loves the Constitution. I'm someone that's for limited government. So I can't sit here and be a hypocrite and say I'm for limited government but I think the government should decide what women do with their bodies,"Lahren added.
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"I can sit here and say that, as a Republican and I can say, you know what, I'm for limited government, so stay out of my guns, and you can stay out of my body as well ..."
Lahren, the 24-year-old political commentator for The Blaze, who is a strong President Donald Trump supporter, has in the past said that she is "proud to be a Christian," and on Sunday added that despite her pro-choice views, she does not advocate for abortion.
"Listen, I am not glorifying abortion. I don't personally advocate for it. I just don't think it's the government's place to dictate," Lahren wrote.
Earlier she added: "I have moderate, conservative, and libertarian views. I'm human. I will never apologize, to anyone, for being an independent thinker."
The Daily Caller reported Saturday that Lahren will likely leave The Blaze by September, if not before, because, her "inflammatory, oftentimes angry style has placed her increasingly at odds with coworkers ..."
A number of conservatives have spoken out against Lahren's criticism of pro-lifers.
"@TomiLahren killing unborn children is wrong. It's a shame you didn't have the courage to say so when surrounded by liberals," Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, senior editor at The Federalist, wrote on Twitter.
Others, such as Brittany Hughes, Managing Editor at MRCTV, said: "Just gonna leave this one here: @TomiLahren, one cannot be conservative and pro-choice. The two are incompatible."
Hughes also took aim at Lahren's claim that she can be pro-choice without personally supporting abortion:
"This is a weak and cowardly position, and it abandons the most defenseless in our society," she insisted.
"Killing an unborn child is no more a 'choice' than walking into your neighbor's house and shooting him. Gov't has a duty to protect life," Hughes said.
The Reagan Battalion threw the "hypocrite" label back at Lahren, writing: "Only 3 months ago, @TomiLahren considered an abortion to be murder, today, she branded pro life conservatives as hypocrites," with the hash-tag #NoPrinciples.
Glenn Beck, founder of The Blaze, retweeted that message.
Beck also mocked Lahren for claiming to be a libertarian while also supporting President Donald Trump.
"Wait, libertarian views? Help me out on Trumpcare, stimulus, and executive orders. Trump is anything but libertarian. #intellectualhonesty," he wrote.
At the conservative website The Resurgent, Peter Heck criticized Beck for giving Lahren a platform. Beck tweeted Heck's article with the message, "Peter Heck gives me no quarter and he shouldn't. This is how conservatives should behave. Bold & honest questions."
Writing for The Federalist, Nicole Russell argued that being pro-life and pro-limited government is a consistent position.
"Limited government doesn't mean no government; that would be anarchy, which culminates in a 'Mad Max' scenario where the powerful rule the weak based on their desires rather than enduring principles of right and wrong that apply equally to all people. In fact, that's precisely what legalized abortion does: enables the powerful (grownups) to prey on the weak (unborn babies those grownups created, in almost all cases in a consensual act). This kind of predatory tyranny is exactly what a constitutionally limited government that guarantees equal fundamental human rights to all is supposed to prevent," she wrote.
In the past, Lahren has said that the topic of abortion is not of great importance to her, and said the same as regard to same-sex marriage. Still, Lahren told The Daily Caller last year that "I do have a faith and I do believe in religious freedom."
Lahren maintained her defense of Trump despite criticism from liberals on "The View," however, and said that despite all his controversies, the American president is not against women.
"If he's so anti-woman," Lahren positioned, "why did he select a female to run his campaign? If Kellyanne Conway had been a Democrat, you all at this table would be applauding her, singing her praises."
