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Laura Ingraham Got Outsmarted By a High School Senior

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David Hogg Owns Laura Ingraham

Caustic Fox News talking head Laura Ingraham learned a humiliating and expensive lesson on Thursday when her attempt to pick a fight with Marjorie Stoneman Douglas shooting survivor turned gun control activist David Hogg did not turn out how she expected. On Wednesday, Ingraham used her fairly large Twitter platform to take a shot at Hogg for being upset after receiving rejections from four University of California schools.

Ingraham shared a hit piece from Ben Shapiro’s conservative news site The Daily Wire, and took aim at the 17-year-old’s GPA in a tweet shared with her 2.16 million followers:

But as Ingraham soon learned, picking a fight with a teenager on social media is a losing proposition—especially this teenager. Hogg’s response to Ingraham wasn’t directed at her, but instead her advertisers, a tactic that is used most fervently by the right.

The New York Times reported Thursday that TripAdvisor, Wayfair, Nestle, and Nutrish had all pulled their sponsorships from Ingraham’s nightly opinion program The Ingraham Angle. Expedia said that they had pulled advertisements, but didn’t specify when they stopped sponsorship. Wayfair, Nutrish, and TripAdviser released statements condemning Ingraham’s decision to target a high school student. From the Times:

Ms. Ingraham’s remarks went too far for TripAdvisor, which said it planned to stop advertising on the show and that it did not “condone the inappropriate comments made by this broadcaster.”

“We also believe Americans can disagree while still being agreeable, and that the free exchange of ideas within a community, in a peaceful manner, is the cornerstone of our democracy,” the company said through a spokesman. “In our view, these statements focused on a high school student cross the line of decency.”

Nutrish, a pet food brand owned by Rachael Ray, said it was “in the process of removing our ads from Laura Ingraham’s program.”

“The comments she has made are not consistent with how we feel people should be treated,” the company said.

Wayfair, an e-commerce company, said in a statement that it supports “open dialogue and debate on issues,” but that it would stop advertising on Ms. Ingraham’s show.

“The decision of an adult to personally criticize a high school student who has lost his classmates in an unspeakable tragedy is not consistent with our values,” the company said.

On Thursday afternoon, Ingraham publicly apologized to Hogg, in a statement that, of course, invoked God:

“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,” Ingraham tweeted. “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 apparently wasn’t impressed that Ingraham issued the apology while she was hemorrhaging followers.

“I 100% agree an apology in an effort just to save your advertisers is not enough,” Hogg tweeted. “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.”

Hogg then encouraged his followers to continue pressuring Ingraham’s followers.

Good luck to Laura.

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