With a starring role on Fox Nation, Tomi Lahren wants to save California from itself

Looking into the camera with a glare, she labels Sen. Kamala Harris a socialist, mocks Gov. Gavin Newsom as “Greasy Gavin” and dismisses Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a “dimwit.” She also lashes out at the media’s coverage of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who at the time faced charges that he faked a hate crime, though prosecutors later dropped the charges. “You need this story to be true to preserve a narrative?” she asked, practically shouting. “That’s sick.”

Lahren spikes her unique brand of rage bait with righteous anger, riling up her millions of fans and her haters in equal but opposite measure. As a marquee host on Fox News’ new digital streaming service, the social media star now has the resources of the country’s top-rated cable news network to amplify her voice to new levels.

It represents a remarkable rebound for Lahren, who split acrimoniously from Glenn Beck’s The Blaze two years ago following comments she made that were sympathetic to legal abortion on ABC’s “The View.” With a new platform, Lahren promises to be combative, unfiltered and happy to infuriate the opposition.

“Before I was hired [at Fox], I made it very clear — this is who I am. I sometimes say things that some people view as controversial,” she explained later in an interview at a favorite hangout spot in Hermosa Beach.

But Lahren, who was widely criticized for comments she made in December about migrant caravans supposedly bringing disease into the country, has no plans to tone it down. “This is what I do.”

“She’s taken outrage to the next level,” said Lauren Feldman, an associate professor of journalism at Rutgers University.

But Lahren is more complex than just a purveyor of outrage, said Feldman. “Tomi is savvy at injecting herself into the pop culture conversation. Like a lot of young celebrities, she gets that there is this bleeding of the line between entertainment and politics and that’s what draws young people into the political space.”

Lahren moved to L.A. a year and a half ago when she became a Fox News contributor, following her departure from the Texas-based The Blaze. And she has stayed because she views California as fertile ground for Fox Nation coverage, which includes her reports from the U.S.-Mexico border — she is adamantly pro-wall — as well as commentary on a range of state issues like the the bullet train and the homelessness epidemic.

“I love California. I think it needs to be saved,” she said. “Things that happen here trickle down. California is a cautionary tale for the rest of the country.”

Lahren said converting her millions of Facebook fans to Fox Nation subscribers will be challenging. But, “if anyone can do it, it’s a Fox News platform,” she said.

Though she didn’t initially support Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, she has since become a vocal backer of Trump, who frequently praises Fox News.

Her ardent conservatism has made her a target for virulent criticism from the left. She has been called a “white power Barbie” and is labeled a racist on a regular basis. Lahren has repeatedly denied that she is racist and has condemned white supremacy. “They think if they say something horrible and disgusting about me, I deserve it because in their minds, they’ve made me out to be this villain,” she said.

Lahren has devoted ample Fox Nation coverage and social media bandwidth to Cpl. Ronil Singh, the California police officer and Fijan immigrant of South Asian descent who was killed while on duty in late December. The suspect arrested in the case is a Mexican national who had illegally crossed into the U.S.

“If this doesn’t piss you off, you’re not paying attention,” Lahren wrote on Instagram.