Fox News host Laura Ingraham was criticized Wednesday night after warning viewers that “demographic changes” were being “foisted” on the United States and said that “the America we know and love doesn’t exist anymore.”
“In some parts of the country, it does seem like the America that we know and love doesn’t exist anymore. 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,” said Ingraham.
“From Virginia to California, we see stark examples of how radically, in some ways, the country’s changed,” she added. “Much of this is related to both illegal and — in some cases — legal immigration that, of course, progressives love.”
The “demographic changes” coming to change the America “we know and love” didn’t sit well with the left, who accused her of racism — but also drew a broad rebuke from Ingraham’s fellow Republicans.
Late in her monologue, Ingraham called on Congress to “act now” to address immigration issues and insisted, “There is something slipping away in this country and it’s not about race or ethnicity.” She did not identify what non-racial, non-ethnic demographic changes concerned her.
The moment was first noticed by Fox News watcher Andrew Lawrence at Media Matters for America.
Fox's prime time lineup used to put a thin veil over the racism, but they've stopped pretending lately. https://t.co/ZIymHPhrSx
— Alex Koppelman (@AlexKoppelman) August 9, 2018
She’s talking about me. She’s talking about my family. https://t.co/N9hT8l2gPH
— Hend Amry (@LibyaLiberty) August 9, 2018
It’s 2018 and we have overt white supremacism on heavily watched prime time TV. https://t.co/h5Wy9et9yv
— Ben White (@EconomyBen) August 9, 2018
Xenophobic conservatives in the 55-and-up demographic are destroying the viability of their ideological movement before our eyes, as surely as Pete Wilson destroyed the viability of the Republican Party in California. https://t.co/wPc3pZf51O
— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) August 9, 2018
JUST SAY RACIAL SLURS https://t.co/KIJCdTDHdq
— Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) August 9, 2018
Subtle https://t.co/MIW25k3tPX
— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) August 9, 2018
https://twitter.com/neeratanden/status/1027393416768970753
https://twitter.com/DavidKlion/status/1027400321906233344
Later on in her monologue, Ingraham clarified that she was not talking about “race or ethnicity.”
“There is something slipping away in this country and it’s not about race or ethnicity,” she said. “It’s what was once a common understanding by both parties that American citizenship is a privilege, and one that at a minimum requires respect for the rule of law and loyalty to our constitution.”
This was not the first time Ingraham has faced controversy. In March, she faced an advertiser boycott that saw dozens of sponsors flee her program after she mocked Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg. Ingraham survived, but was forced to apologize to Hogg and took a vacation from the airwaves for a week.
You can watch her latest moment above.