Fox News host Laura Ingraham continues to face backlash after sending out a scathing tweet about Parkland shooting survivor, David Hogg, in which she seemingly mocked the 18-year-old activist for whining about not getting into the college of his choice. Hogg responded by calling on Ingraham’s advertisers to cut ties with her show. So far, he has been successful in doing so.
“David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it,” Ingraham wrote in a tweet about Hogg. “(Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates.)”
The Ingram Angle, which airs weekdays on Fox News, has already lost Johnson and Johnson, Bayer, Liberty Mutual, Nestle, Jenny Craig and several other advertisers due to the host’s controversial tweet. The fear is that she will lose several more before all is said and done. Ingraham did try to apologize for her remarks but was met with hostility and a challenge from the activist.
“Any student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA —incl. @DavidHogg111 ,” Ingram tweeted to her followers. “On reflection, in the spirit of Holy Week, I apologize for any upset or hurt my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of Parkland. For the record, I believe my show was the first to feature David…immediately after that horrific shooting and even noted how “poised” he was given the tragedy. As always, he’s welcome to return to the show anytime for a productive discussion.”
Hogg responded by tweeting, “I 100% agree an apology in an effort just to save your advertisers is not enough. I will only accept your apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I in this fight. It’s time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children.”
After Ingraham made her apology, she announced that she would be taking a week’s vacation to spend time with her family. She also said that she would be back on the air the following Monday, but there is some speculation the show will be canceled before then. A lot of that has to do with the fact that Bill O’Reily faced a similar situation last year and never did return after his break, but Fox News apparently has no plans to cancel Ingraham’s show as of now.
“We cannot and will not allow voices to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts,” Fox News Co- President, Jack Abernethy said in statement regarding the issue. “We look forward to having Laura Ingraham back hosting her program next Monday when she returns from spring vacation with her children.”
A spokesperson from Fox News said Ingraham’s vacation was pre-planned.