Show host pulled for a week after abortion comments

Amid a conservative backlash over Tomi Lahren's explanation on why she is "pro-choice," the conservative commentator's show has been pulled off air for the week. Photo / YouTube

Amid a conservative backlash over Tomi Lahren's explanation on why she is "pro-choice," the US conservative commentator's show has reportedly been pulled off air for the week, the Blaze confirmed.

Lahren, the 24-year-old host of the show Tomi on the conservative website, said on The View that she supports abortion rights, saying that as someone who supports limited government, it would be hypocritical of her to believe the government should decide what women should do with their bodies.

Conservative writers, social media users and talk show hosts - including Blaze founder Glenn Beck - soon fired back, criticising Lahren's comments and justification. And yesterday, Leon Wolf, managing editor of the Blaze, told CNN that "Tomi's show will not be in production this week".

Lahren tweeted that she had some "me" time that night, apparently a reference to time off from her nightly show. "Anything good on TV?"

She also retweeted a link to a Daily Caller article that reported, citing anonymous sources, that her show would be suspended, for at least one week.

"No one hunts small deer," she tweeted, "this too shall pass."

Beck addressed Lahren's abortion comments on his radio show, criticising her explanation that her position was supported by the Constitution.

The preamble to the Constitution, Beck explained, speaks of securing "'the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.' . . . Well, who are our posterity, if not our unborn children and grandchildren and great grandchildren?" he said.

He clarified that it did not matter to him whether Lahren supported abortion rights. When the Blaze first launched, a show called "Real News" was hosted by Amy Holmes, who supported abortion rights. "So if you're pro-choice, you can have a job at the Blaze," Beck said. "I try to hire people who have a different opinion because I believe in being intellectually rigorous."

He did not comment on her future at the outlet, saying it would be inappropriate to discuss the topic on the radio. But, he said, "the ideas are what are important. And if you cannot defend the idea, no matter which side you're on, if you can't defend the idea, that leads to the second part of the discussion. Which is the people calling for Tomi to be fired."

Dana Loesch, a host on the Blaze and national spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, also criticised Lahren's comments in an interview with Beck. "Conserving the individual is the basis of conservatism. It is classical de Tocqueville liberalism. And if anybody knows anything about politics 101, if they know this, this should not be a surprise to them."

Some of the hosts of The View defended her. Whoopi Goldberg, who was absent when Lahren was on the show, said "Do you have to be on the same side of every single issue of your political party? Aren't you allowed to evolve and grow?"

"Maybe what we need to do is stay away from all these labels." Sunny Hostin said. "They've been so terrible to her, and I think that's one of the problems with conservatism. There's so many faces to it."