Live from Music Row Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Tomi Lahren, OutKick (outkick.com) host of Tomi Lahren Is Fearless, to the newsmaker line to revisit her visit to the University of New Mexico, where she and others who came to hear her speak were shut down and threatened with violence by left-wing students.
Leahy: On the newsmaker line right now, our good friend and Nashvillian, Tomi Lahren, host of Tomi Lahren Is Fearless on OutKick dot-com.
Tomi, you were down at the University of New Mexico, and in essence, 100 or so lunatic left-wing folks went in and threatened you physically. Tell us what happened down there.
Lahren: (Chuckles) I’ll tell you, it’s great to be back in Nashville. I don’t think I’ll be going back to Albuquerque anytime soon. But, yes, I do a lot of campus speeches, as most active conservatives do, because we got to show up.
We got to make our presence known on college campuses and spread the good word of patriotism and freedom. So I went to try to do that at the University of New Mexico, and unfortunately, you’re right.
A band of green-hairs decided that they not only wanted to disrupt the speech, not only wanted to shut it down, but they wanted to try to barge into the actual room and attack me and the other students that were there to listen to the speech.
So that’s kind of the Cliffs Notes version. We ended up having to be escorted back into the student union kitchen, and they had to call in the state police, local police, and the SWAT team.
I guess that’s what happens when you bring the message of conservatism to a college campus, around young people who are used to hearing only what they want to hear, you get that kind of reaction, and it’s very unfortunate.
Leahy: Why didn’t the campus police do more? I mean, they knew this was coming, but there were only a couple of police officers there. Why didn’t they help protect you?
Lahren: Well, I’ll tell you this. The campus officers that we had there did the best that they could; unfortunately, the university knew this was going to happen. It had been planned for days, the protest.
And the speech had been planned for months, but the actual school knew it was going to happen and didn’t provide more officers. And when I asked the officers why that was, they said, listen, they barely fund us or care about us to begin with.
So those officers, they honestly put their lives on the line for me that night. They were pushed. They were shoved to the ground trying to guard that door. And it wasn’t the university that decided that the state police and the SWAT team had to be called in.
It was actually the campus officers and they did it really without the university. They had to do it on their own as just a matter of security.
The university did nothing until after the fact, of course, and now they’re trying to clean up after themselves with a whole litany of excuses, but it just doesn’t quite cut it.
Leahy: Tomi, what would have happened to you in your best guess, if those campus police officers hadn’t been reinforced? Were you physically in danger?
Lahren: We absolutely were. And I never thought that anything like this could actually happen because I do a lot of speeches. There’s usually a protest. It’s usually just loudmouths with signs, screaming at me. This was a little different.
And amidst the chaos, someone pulled the fire alarm. At one point, we were told that shots were fired. That wasn’t the case, but it was just to cause more mayhem.
Some of the students that were at the protest actually had barged their way into the kitchen, where I was kind of hiding out, waiting for the police. So I don’t know what they would have done.
But I’ll tell you this – the way they were trying to get in those doors, it was like a pack of rabid animals. So they weren’t just there trying to give their First Amendment rights a go. I can tell you that much.
Leahy: Crom Carmichael has a question for you, Tomi.
Carmichael: Tomi, to your knowledge, were any of the people who essentially attacked – I’m going to use the term attacked – you and attacked your event, did any of them get arrested?
Lahren: UNM said that they were going to investigate the incident, but we haven’t heard of any arrests being made. And now the sad part is, in order to cover their behind, UNM is now saying, well, some students reported that students of color weren’t allowed in the event. What!?
That is a lie. If anyone wasn’t allowed in the event, it’s because they were trying to barge their way through to attack me and speech-goers.
But of course, they have to cover themselves, so they pull the race card to do it. It’s disgusting. It’s a lie. And I’m really disappointed in UNM and their response to the whole thing.
Carmichael: Yes, but you said something at the beginning of this interview. You said that you’ll not be going back to Albuquerque anytime soon. So it sounds to me like these leftists succeeded in their goal.
Lahren: (Chuckles) I will tell you this. I won’t be going back to Albuquerque anytime soon because I finished at UNM and we’re good for a while. But I’ll be going to several other college campuses this year.
Even if they do plan a protest, even if I do somewhat fear for their campus protocols, that won’t keep me off college campuses. I’m just going to take a break from Albuquerque because, like I said, I’ve kind of been there, done that one.
So maybe next year, maybe the next school year, we’ll go back and give it a whirl. But as for now, I’m headed to more college campuses, and despite the reaction, we have to keep going.
Leahy: I see that you’re now with Fox-acquired OutKick dot-com. Clay Travis, another Nashvillian, put that together, and he sold it to Fox. Tell us about your new show there, Tomi.
Lahren: I broadcast right here out of Nashville, so I’m so happy to be here and get to be around this city that I love so much and at OutKick we mostly do sports, but I’m bringing you a political angle because we are just tired of everything. We are tired of the mainstream media. We are tired of the narrative.
And you guys know me. I always tell it like it is. So I have a lot of fun over on my show, Tomi Lahren is Fearless, and we talk about everything from campus protest to the border to what’s going on in woke sports, talk about men and women’s sports, boy, anything you can imagine, I’m going to cover it over there. And I’m so happy to be with OutKick. It’s a great platform.
Leahy: Tomi Lahren, thanks for joining us. And of course, we have the open invitation. I know it’s early, but you can come in-studio anytime you want.
Lahren: We got to get that done before the new year (Leahy chuckles) we’ll make it happen.
Leahy: And we are secure here. Okay? You’ll be safe in our studio, I promise.
Lahren: I’m going to hold you guys to it and I certainly appreciate it.
Listen to today’s show highlights, including this interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
I guess she wasn’t there to express her views on abortion and sexual degeneracy (LGBTQ)? They would have been cheering along to her speech had that been the case.
What typical, pathetic behavior from leftist college students. If you don’t agree with their point of view (and what rational, sane person would?) then you can’t speak.