Chelsea Handler and Tomi Lahren faced off in a discussion at Politicon, a large annual gathering that bills itself as “the unconventional political convention.” Handler was there to interview Lahren, though the two sparred over major current issues.
Handler pushed single payer, while Lahren railed against the individual mandate. Handler asked Lahren about her own health coverage, to which she responded, “I’m 24, so I’m still on my parents’.” This admission of benefitting from the very law she wants repealed elicited boos from the crowd. However, Lahren backed her way out by explaining that parts of Obamacare are worth keeping, and repeal without a replacement would be disastrous for the GOP.
This wasn’t what Lahren planned on talking about. In fact, when she landed in California, she told TMZ that military policy about transgender people would be her number-one issue for the event.
The pair did get to the extremely touchy issue. Lahren said, “I am not taking away from their bravery, their courage…when it comes to effectiveness on the battlefield, I don’t believe it is the place for a social experiment.”
Handler fired back, “I don’t think it is a social experiment, because the trans community, they are not going away.”
The two media figures blur the line between news and entertainment. Lahren, 24, got her start as an anchor on One America News Network when she was fresh out of college. She went on to host Tomi on The Blaze, a show that ended this spring after Lahren told the ladies of The View that she’s pro-choice.
Handler got her start in comedy, and parlayed it into Chelsea Lately on E! and Chelsea Does on Netflix. She now hosts Chelsea, a Netflix talk show.
Handler publicly spoke out on behalf of Hillary Clinton in the run-up to the 2016 election. She participated in the Women’s March and has been vocal about having two abortions at age 16. In September of last year, Handler told The Daily Beast that a Trump presidency would mean “the end of our civilization.”
The debate wasn’t the first time either Chelsea or Tomi have reached across the aisle (and in front of the cameras). None of their efforts have yielded particularly productive results. Handler has invited Donald Trump on her show, and even scheduled Ann Coulter as a guest. Coulter canceled just before the show, citing illness, and Handler responded by lampooning her and calling her book “In Trump We Trust” a “piece of sh*t.”
Lahren appeared on The Daily Show with Trever Noah, an appearance which was widely hailed as an embarrassment for her and a win for Noah. She said “I’m a Millennial, I don’t like labels,” and he quickly jumped on her use of a broad categorical label to explain her way out of labels.
Despite the moments of contention, both debaters showed grace. Lahren spoke highly of Handler’s career, and Handler mentioned Lahren’s impressive resume at such a young age. Lahren said it perfectly: “How else are we gonna get anywhere if we won’t talk to each other?”
