In the fall of 2017, Fox News announced it was giving its prime-time 10 p.m. slot to longtime conservative commentator Laura Ingraham, who has a history of vile, racist, and anti-immigrant commentary. The choice has proven costly for Fox; Ingraham’s time slot was reportedly “down at least $16 million in ad revenue in 2018.”
Ingraham has spent years demonizing and mocking immigrants. In an August rant that directly echoed white supremacist talking points, Ingraham warned, “Massive demographic changes have been foisted upon the American people, and they are changes that none of us ever voted for, and most of us don't like. From Virginia to California, we see stark examples of how radically, in some ways, the country has changed. Now, much of this is related to both illegal and, in some cases, legal immigration that, of course, progressives love.” She dismissed asylum claims from Hondurans fleeing violence because, according to her, “it’s not our problem.” She referred to detention centers for migrant children as “essentially summer camps.” She defended then-candidate Donald Trump’s claim that Mexico is sending rapists to the United States and argued that Mexicans “have come here to murder and rape our people.” She claimed that a lot of immigrants “have wreaked havoc upon communities.”
And there’s so much more.