Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff. 

Conservative political commentator, Tomi Lahren, has been sidelined and silenced by in-house politics involving ultra-right-winger Glenn Beck and his ‘The Blaze’ online news service out of Dallas. She was suspended indefinitely and taken off the air recently for making pro-choice abortion comments on ABC’s ‘The View’ – a daytime television talk show co-hosted by five liberal-leaning celebrity women who frequently bring on controversial guests.

Lahren said she was a proud young Republican conservative woman in favor of pro-choice – an eye-popping minority viewpoint for conservatives. During her eight minutes on The View the audience applauded her heartfelt words on a variety of subjects several times, but especially when she said, “Stay out of my guns and stay out of my body.”

But with those words Beck cancelled her news show on The Blaze, however she remains under contract for the next few months and she’s being paid until her contract runs out. Lahren has filed a lawsuit against Beck and The Blaze charging wrongful termination, according to news reports. 

Beck is a dummy for letting Lahren go. She’s the best thing he had going on. Now his days are numbered. He literally has bit the hand that was feeding him.

Lahren also is also absent from social media. The Blaze took over the social media accounts they managed for her and she now has no access to her millions of followers. There are numerous Facebook pages devoted to her with hundreds of thousands of fans. She is clearly missed.

What her followers miss are Lahren’s fiery political commentaries delivered in her look-you-in-the-eye, rapid-fire, machine-gun style that show extreme courage by taking on subjects from abortion to cop killings.

In a subsequent interview on ABC News Lahren further explained her position on abortion as both pro-choice and pro-life. According to Lahren, she draws the line at the end of the first trimester of pregnancy in which women should have the choice of having an abortion, but after that no, because these babies are developed enough to be viable human beings. There is a lot to be learned from Lahren’s point of view that could go a long way towards solving the decades old abortion debate, one of the more controversial issues of our time.

In today’s news business there is nothing to compare Lahren to except maybe the late Jessica Savitch, formerly with NBC News. Lahren is not from California or New York, she’s from South Dakota – in mid-west America — where people go to church and respect hard work, God, country, the flag, law and order, the U.S. military and veterans. Her steady boyfriend is a U.S. Navy Seal she met in San Diego who is currently on deployment overseas, according to news reports.

So where will Tomi Lahren pop up next? Who will inherit those legions of fans as viewers boosting ratings and advertising rates?

She’s a strong voice for young conservative women. There is no end to what Lahren would get into if she was given control of her own prime time news show without any censorship and delivered live in real time. Lahren is all about impact, so why not give her the opportunity to present herself on mainstream media or on FOX News and win the hearts of conservative women everywhere? That is a considerable voting bloc.

There are plenty of media critics saying Lahren isn’t old enough at 24 for such responsibility, and she hasn’t paid her dues in comparison to other news personalities and all that sort of nonsense. One of the hosts of The View confronted Lahren about her age and inexperience and she replied “I’m sitting here right now with people much older than me … I must be doing something right.” The naysayers are not the media star she has become in her own right. 

Lahren is a social media phenomenon verging on superstar status with millions of loyal followers she has developed over the past couple of years. This woman has about the same support on social media as President Trump, and that is not to be taken lightly by anyone especially in this digital age. Even the liberal New York Times has labeled Lahren a “rising media star.”

According to news reports, on at least one occasion President Trump called Lahren to thank her for her reporting. She has been featured on just about all of the mainstream media news programs as well as on FOX News many times especially on Bill O’Reilly’s nightly news show, The Factor.

When Lahren starts a rant you really can’t take your eyes off this beautiful girl, whether you agree with her or not, you listen right to the very last word. That’s what happens when Tomi starts talkin’. She says the word “crap” better than any woman on TV news — hands down. This girl is made for TV and made in the USA.

Whether it’s mainstream media or FOX News, Lahren will surely show up again somewhere and soon. She’s a hot commodity right now and news executives should have an open mind about Lahren and see her potential. It wouldn’t take a lot to beat the paycheck she was making at ‘The Blaze’ so right now she’s a bargain, but she’s no diamond in the rough.

A dream scenario for Lahren might go like this: Make her executive producer and anchor of her own news magazine. It’s worth doing just to see what she’d do with a new opportunity like this. She’d be better than the news anchors and commentators now on network TV news, CNN and FOX News – who for the most part are boring, too politically correct and too tight with their words. When Tomi shoots from the hip everybody wakes up.

P.S. Here’s a link to a recent in-depth interview with Tomi Lahren broadcast recently on ABC News after her controversial firing.

About the Author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.