Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren is in the spotlight again after she refused to take questions about abortion during a recent appearance at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Florida.
A former The Blaze host, Lahren lost her job and a lot of fans earlier this year when she blasted pro-life conservatives as hypocrites and expressed her support for abortion.
Baylor University student Chloe Knox wanted to ask Lahren about her abortion views this week at the conservative conference, the Washington Examiner reports. But when the question and answer session began, Knox said Turning Point USA staffers told her that Lahren would not answer questions about abortion.
Knox tweeted about her experience Thursday: “I’m livid. You’ve turned away a dozen students wanting to ask Tomi about her pro-abortion stance. Who’s the snowflake afraid of free speech and open discussion now? #SAS2017”
Later, she continued: “What sort of conservative conference disallows its attendees to ask questions about major components of the conservative agenda? I want to dedicate my life fighting the abortion industry, and you’re preventing me from garnering experience.”
Knox said Lahren later blocked her on Twitter.
Here’s more from the report:
During the question and answer portion of Lahren’s talk, multiple attendees became agitated and shouted at Lahren, asking her if she was pro-life. This prompted Lahren to quip, “You need to simmer down! You don’t even want to start with me!”
Five hours after Knox’s original tweet, she updated her social media account, tweeting that Turning Point USA’s founder, Charlie Kirk, had personally reached out to meet with her and apologized for “TPUSA’s mistake.”
Other attendees disagreed with Knox’s assertions. Megan Springer told Red Alert Politics that Lahren was a guest speaker, and she should be able to talk about what she wants to.
“She was paid to be here and there is obviously rules and regulations about that and she shouldn’t be forced to talk about something she doesn’t want to talk about,” Springer said.
Lahren first made her pro-abortion position known during a guest appearance on “The View” on March 17.
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“I’m pro-choice,” Lahren told the panel, “and here’s why: I can’t sit here and be a hypocrite and say I’m for limited government but I think that the government should decide what women should do with their bodies. … I’m for limited government, so stay out of my guns, and you can stay out of my body as well.”
The comments sparked immediate outrage among conservatives and pro-lifers, and the conservative network soon took Lahren off the air.
Lahren filed a lawsuit against The Blaze, Glenn Beck’s network, in April after she said she was wrongfully fired for speaking out in support of abortion. The Blaze maintains that Lahren was suspended, not fired, and received a paycheck until the day her employment ended.
Previously, Beck challenged Lahren’s abortion stance on his radio show, saying pro-lifers who want limited government and protections for babies in the womb are not hypocrites.
“I would disagree that you’re a hypocrite if you want limited government and yet you want the government to protect life of the unborn,” Beck said. “It’s very, very clear. But it takes intellectual honesty, and it takes a willingness to actually think these things through and to do more than just read Twitter or Facebook to get your news and your political opinions.”
Lahren has not backed away from her support of abortion, and she previously said she will not apologize.
