Fox News Host Taunts Parkland Shooting Survivor, And The Internet Claps Back

Laura Ingraham made fun of David Hogg, a Parkland shooting survivor, and Twitter was not having it

Want to hear something really awful, gross, and just altogether not okay? Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham mocked a high school student for not getting into college on Twitter. Not only that, but said high school student was David Hogg, a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. So, yeah, let’s give all the Worst Person of the Year awards to Laura Ingraham.

The TV host took to social media to gloat over the fact that Hogg, who has been a fierce advocate for gun control, didn’t get into four of the colleges he applied to. “David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates),” she wrote.

We have seriously reached the lowest of the low points, haven’t we?

Thankfully, the Twitterverse wasn’t having it. People sprung into action, questioning why in the world Ingraham would choose to mock a high school student. And one who just survived a horrific mass shooting, no less.

“I have to ask — @IngrahamAngle — honestly, what kind of a mother bullies a HS student who survived a school shooting and a massacre?” New York Representative Nydia Velazques wrote. “These kids know more about grace and class than you’ll ever understand.”

Meanwhile, Hogg decided to take some concrete action. The high schooler posted a list of all of Ingraham’s biggest sponsors on Twitter, and urged users to make some calls and demand that the companies pull their support.

Annnnnd low and behold – some companies are actually listening. Both TripAdvisor and Nutrish have dropped their sponsorships with Ingraham’s Fox News show.

“We…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,” a TripAdvisor spokesperson said in an email to Politico. “We do not, however, condone the inappropriate comments made by this broadcaster. In our view, these statements focused on a high school student, cross the line of decency.”

AMEN to that. Although Ingraham should’ve realized cruelly picking on people is never okay, it took it hurting her bottom line for her to acknowledge that. After losing a few sponsors, she finally apologized:

The apology rings hollow and insincere, especially since she was sure to pat herself on the back for having him on her show early on, and after insulting him, the loss of ad dollars was what made her backtrack.

The takeaway here? Speaking out about where we spend our money does make a difference. Hopefully Ingraham remembers this the next time she tries bullying a teenager on social media.