Conservative pundit Tomi Lahren has apologized after insulting Democratic Representative Joe Kennedy III on Twitter, calling him a ‘little limp d**k’ and a ‘nast little ginger’.
Lahren, 25, took to Instagram earlier this week after watching Kennedy’s response to President Donald Trump’s State Of The Union’s address.
Kennedy, 37, argued in his speech that soaring stock prices under Trump have helped investor portfolios and corporate profits but have not eased the economic anxieties of middle-class families.
Message: Tomi Lahren has apologized after insulting Democratic Representative Joe Kennedy III on Twitter, calling him a ‘little limp d**k’ in an Instagram video (pictured)
Names: Lahren, 25, took to Instagram earlier this week after watching Kennedy’s response to President Trump’s State Of The Union’s address, and also called him a ‘little ginger nerd’
His comments were not to the taste of Lahren, a vocal Trump supporter, who took to Instagram Stories to post a clip of a computer screen on which Kennedy’s speech was playing, writing on top of the image: ‘Cannot wait to shred this little ginger nerd.’
‘Just listen to this little nasty ginger,’ she says in the video. ‘No no no no no.’
In another Instagram Story update, Lahren doubled down on the insults, telling her 1.2 million followers: ‘If you haven’t yet had the displeasure of watching that little limp d**k’s response to President Trump’s State Of The Union, I suggest you take some Pepto-Bismol or some Midol or whatever you need to do to get through it, because it was pathetic and it was embarrassing. Oh my God.’
Lahren’s comments sparked backlash on Twitter, with Kassy Dillon, the founder of a platform for Conservative college students, writing: ‘Tomi Lahren is not a good representative for conservatism.’
Journalist Maria Shriver, the ex-wife of former Republican California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, also took Lahren to task on the social media platform.
Opinion: Lahren’s comments sparked backlash on Twitter, with IJR editor Josh Billinson ironically calling her remarks ‘some very insightful and professional political commentary’
Feedback: Kassy Dillon, the founder of a platform for Conservative college students, wrote: ‘Tomi Lahren is not a good representative for conservatism’
‘Open your heart’: Journalist Maria Shriver, the ex-wife of former Republican California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, also took Lahren to task on the social media platform
Statement: Lahren eventually apologized on Twitter, calling her own remarks ‘inappropriate’
‘Wow, wow Tomi. As a young woman, people pay attention to what you say,’ Shriver wrote. ‘I sure hope you can get your kindness on. I know you have it in you. Joe is a wonderful young man. Do yourself a favor, open your heart.’
Meanwhile, Josh Billinson, an editor at the Independent Journal Review, a news and opinion website founded by former Republican Governors Association digital director Alex Skatell, wrote: ‘Here’s Fox News contributor @TomiLahren referring to a Democratic congressman as “that little limp d**k.” Some very insightful and professional political commentary.’
Lahren eventually apologized on Twitter, calling her own remarks ‘inappropriate’.
‘My comments on my personal Instagram about Kennedy’s response were inappropriate and I take full responsibility for that,’ she wrote. ‘I got too upset. I sincerely apologize.’
In his State Of The Union response, Kennedy called on Americans to reject the ‘chaos’ of the Trump era, and outlined a Democratic vision that promises a ‘better deal for all who call this country home’.
Democrats support a higher minimum wage, paid leave for employees and affordable child care, among other priorities, Kennedy said.
Speech: Kennedy, 37, argued in his speech that soaring stock prices under Trump have helped corporate profits but have not eased the economic anxieties of middle-class families
‘We choose pensions that are solvent, trade pacts that are fair, roads and bridges that won’t rust away, and good education you can afford,’ he said in a speech from a vocational high school in Fall River, Massachusetts, a onetime manufacturing hub now struggling with high unemployment and other problems.
Kennedy, a three-term congressman and grandson of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, has argued that Democrats should focus on the economic concerns of working-class voters who bolted the party in the 2016 elections.
Fall River, home to many blue-collar workers, ‘has faced its share of storms,’ Kennedy said. ‘But people here are tough. They fight for each other. They pull for their city.’
In an apparent reference to Trump, Kennedy said that ‘bullies may land a punch’ and leave a mark but that they have ‘never managed to match the strength and spirit of a people united in defense of their future.’
In a hard-hitting speech for a political newcomer, Kennedy decried a rollback of civil rights protections, noting proposals that target Muslims, transgender people and others.
The Trump administration ‘isn’t just targeting the laws that protect us – they are targeting the very idea that we are all worthy of protection,’ Kennedy said.
Trump’s record is ‘a rebuke of our highest American ideal: the belief that we are all worthy, we are all equal and we all count – in the eyes of our law and our leaders, our God and our government,’ Kennedy said.
The red-haired Kennedy was elected to the House in 2012, returning the family to Congress two years after the retirement of Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy, the son of Joe Kennedy III’s great-uncle Ted.
Known mostly for his famous last name, Kennedy’s selection has been criticized by some as tone-deaf at a time when sexual harassment of women and the Black Lives Matter movement are at the forefront of American politics. Speaking without a suit coat in front of a rebuilt car and an enthusiastic audience, Kennedy tried to defuse that Tuesday by citing the #MeToo movement and declaring, ‘Black lives matter.’
Reacting: His comments were not to the taste of Lahren, who is a vocal Trump supporter
In a nod to ‘Dreamers,’ the 700,000 young immigrants brought here as children and now here illegally, Kennedy spoke in Spanish as he said Dreamers are a part of America’s story and promised that Democrats will not walk away from them.
Kennedy said Trump and his administration were breaking a core promise of America – that everyone will be treated equally under the law. He accused the administration of ‘callously’ appraising Americans’ worth and deciding ‘who makes the cut and who can be bargained away.’
Under the leadership of Trump and congressional Republicans, Americans are ‘bombarded with one false choice after another,’ Kennedy said. ‘Coal miners or single moms. Rural communities or inner cities. The coast or the heartland.’
Democrats ‘choose both,’ Kennedy said.
A former Peace Corps volunteer, Kennedy was an assistant district attorney in two Massachusetts districts before being elected to Congress. He has focused on economic and social justice in Congress and has advocated on behalf of vocational schools and community colleges and championed issues such as transgender rights and marriage equality.
To illustrate that message, Kennedy invited US Army Staff Sergeant Patricia King, a transgender woman, as his guest to the State of the Union. King, an infantry squad leader at Fort Lewis, Washington, was the first person to have gender reassignment surgery paid for by the military.
Kennedy’s speech was one of several Democratic responses. Elizabeth Guzman, one of the first Latinas elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, delivered a Spanish-language response, while former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders spoke on Facebook Live and Representative Maxine Waters, of California, spoke on BET.