Overview

Tomi Lahren Dog-Kicking Controversy refers to a series of comments Fox News correspondent Tomi Lahren made in an Instagram Story about kicking her dog "five times" during an interview. The comments were met with outrage online.

Background

On March 14th, 2018, in an Instagram Story,^[1] Tomi Lahren said to her dog Kota, "Why don’t you tell the world what you were doing during my entire 'Fox & Friends' hit? Oh I know, chewing on her damn bone as loud as she possibly could. So I had to kick her about five times during the show."

Development

Online Reaction

Many online reacted negatively to the video. Journalist Jordan Uhl tweeted, ^[2] "Tomi Lahren posted a video admitting she just kicked her dog *5* times because it was chewing its bone 'too loud.' Animal cruelty typically foreshadows other disturbing behavior. But in Tomi’s case, we already knew she’s evil." The post (shown below, left) received more than 3,000 retweets and 12,000 likes in 24 hours.

The animal rights organization PETA tweeted,^[3] "Only a heartless person would kick a dog just for doing what dogs normally do--and a reasonable person would simply have moved out of the way or moved the animal. Tomi Lahren needs lessons in basic empathy and logic." The post (shown below, center) received more than 50 retweets and 250 likes in 24 hours.

Some commented that people reacted more swiftly to Lahren's allegations of animal cruelty than her incendiary language. Twitter^[4] user @nerdjpg tweeted a gif of Brita from the television sitcom Community saying "I can excuse racism, but I draw the line at animal cruelty." The included the caption "White people after hearing Tomi Lahren kicks her dog." The post (shown below, right) received more than 130 retweets and 320 likes in 24 hours.

On March 15th, Redditor ^[5] posted about the incident on the /r/Fuckthealtright. The post received more than 260 points (92% upvoted) and 25 comments in 24 hours.

Lahren's Response

On March 14th, TMZ^[6] uploaded a video of Tomi Lahren saying that she was "joking." The post (shown below) received 26,000 views in 24 hours.

Media Coverage

Several media outlets covered the controversy, including Raw Story,^[7] The Wrap,^[8] The Hill^[9] and more.

Search Interest

External References