Fox's Ingraham sees no advertiser boycott despite outrage over child migrant comment

By Joe Concha - 06/19/18 10:36 PM EDT
 
Fox's Ingraham sees no advertiser boycott despite outrage over child migrant comment
© Greg Nash

Fox News primetime host Laura Ingraham has not seen any of her advertisers publicly boycott her show despite a backlash on social media following a controversial comment she made about migrant shelters, according to a Tuesday evening report in The Hollywood Reporter.

Ingraham sparked controversy by calling housing for migrant children separated from their parents "essentially summer camps" during her Monday program. The remark led to criticism on social media and calls for another advertising boycott of her show from Parkland, Fla., shooting survivor David Hogg.

The student activist took to Twitter to list Ingraham's advertisers in the same manner he did in late March after Ingraham mocked him for not being accepted to four colleges he applied to.

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"So @IngrahamAngle we meet again. Who are you biggest advertisers now?" Hogg asked before adding in a subsequent tweet, "If we get these advertisers pulled maybe @Ingraham will have to become a camp counselor and learn how wrong she is."

 

 
 
After Ingraham's advertisers were contacted by The Hollywood Reporter to see if they would be pulling out of the show, "none revealed plans to pull spots from the Ingraham Angle — and most did not respond," according to the report.
 
Fox News said in a statement provided to The Hill that it was standing by its host. 

“Laura Ingraham’s very personal, on-the-ground commitment to the plight of impoverished and abandoned children — specifically in Guatemala — speaks for itself," the statement reads. "So, too, does her strong belief in a common-sense, legal immigration system, which will continue to be a focus of her show. Fox News will never tolerate or give in to attempts to silence diverse viewpoints by agenda-driven intimidation efforts."
 
Ingraham lost more than 20 advertisers following Hogg's first boycott call in late March.
 
The host apologized, while Fox News also publicly stood by its host at the time.
 
Ratings for "The Ingraham Angle" have improved by almost 20 percent since Ingraham returned from a weeklong Easter vacation during the controversy in early April. The show averaged 2.617 million viewers in May.
 
"I suggest that a lot of the folks who are worried about that spend more time in Central America," Ingraham also said on Monday of the policy. "I have. And we should make adoption easier for American couples who want to adopt these kids who are true candidates for adoption because our policies don’t allow that."
 
"So let’s put our hearts out there for the kids in the right way," she added. "Take care of them the right way. Open your hearts and your homes to them."