Los Angeles is a wicked and dangerous city, where treacherous depravity lurks behind every pride flag, pupusaria and EV charging station, according to MAGA experts. We’re a blue city, in a blue state, which in Fox News-speak means we’re a dangerous hellhole. Think Mordor or Flea Bottom but with bike lanes and prettier people.
The right-wing media never misses an opportunity to “report” on the rise in crime in the country (even though the rate is actually falling), especially in blue states, and especially on the left coast. Angelenos are “legitimately in danger” from “thugs, criminals, and green hair that isn’t thick,” Tomi Lahren said on Sunday, joining a chorus of conservative commentators who denounced LA as a 24/7 “Training Day” loop because of liberal policymakers. and leftist voters.
Don’t think of facts or data. Sean Hannity and lesser-known personalities (OAN, NewsMax, etc.) have ratings, and nothing moves the needle like fear of The Other and salaciousness of Los Angeles. The promotion of lockstep hatred from the West Coast – not just its politics, but its people – is now requisite for anyone hoping to stake a claim in the right-wing mediaverse.
Lahren took a turn Sunday, lamenting California’s “blue state of bullshit” on Outkick’s Skinny Secrets podcast. Former South Bay resident says not to go to LA because “it’s going to be rough”…
The absurd conflation of crime rates and political leanings is politics at best, not substantive debate, but if you’re going to take the low road, at least be prepared with a strong example of LA crime.
Lahren came up with a story about passive-aggressive ice cream vendors, suspicious Vons shoppers and “mean girls.” When asked where he feels most threatened, the Fox Nation personality mentioned Santa Monica, especially the Bungalow cafe (“A haven for social connectivity and creative collaboration” according to the website. Margaritas start at $20). “People would scream at me,” she says of the experience at the trendy beachside restaurant.
A selection of ice cream flavors from Salt & Straw.
(Courtesy of Salt & Straw)
The host of the “Tomi Lahren is Fearless” podcast said she was followed around Vons, recognized by a woman at Hermosa Beach’s The Tower (“a beach town casual kitchen”) and targeted during a man’s errand on the West Side. Hollywood for Fox’s “Hannity” show. “At Salt & Straw there will give free ice cream to people if they don’t talk to me,” she said of the harrowing experience. They never mentioned the chain’s great culinary crime, Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper ice cream.
Lahren is a B-list right-wing commentator and influencer who rattles off various platforms. In 2019, when he was still living in the LA area and calling Gavin Newsom “Gavin greasy,” he told The Times in an interview that he was on a rescue mission. “I love California. I need to be saved. The things that are happening here are going down. California is a cautionary tale for other countries.
Now, that love seems long gone.
When a podcast interviewer asked Lahren if she still felt unsafe, she said no because she now lives in Tennessee. “I feel bad for so many people who don’t have the protection to live in a place like I do,” he said. “There are a lot of people right now in danger and they are in LA and in New York and in Washington DC and in Portland. It’s really sad.”
But with an important election, the crime rate is increasing in their eyes. Where one conservative commentator sees Sodom and Gomorrah, the data and trends paint a different picture. According to the 2022 study, Tennessee ranks above California in violent crime rates with 621.6 violent crime incidents per 100,000 residents. The southern states are only in New Mexico (780.5 incidents), Alaska (758.9), Arkansas (645.3) and Louisiana (628.6). And Memphis, Tenn., had the highest violent crime rate of any city reported to the FBI in 2022.
Los Angeles has always been a magnet for those seeking fame, even if it means being a bogeyman for opportunistic connoisseurs.
