Fox News issues strong statement backing Laura Ingraham – she’ll return next week

In the past, when embattled Fox News hosts have taken a “short vacation,” it hasn’t gone well for them. For better or worse, Bill O’Reilly and Eric Bolling both took outrage-inspired “breaks” that ended up becoming permanent after a few days. It appears Laura Ingraham will not suffer the same fate, as Fox News has issued a strong statement in her defense. Ingraham is “taking a week off” after her advertisers followed child gun control advocate David Hogg’s lead and began pulling support from her show. Ingraham had, perhaps foolishly, taken the Hogg-bait and tweeted about his college rejections. Hogg, who demands to be taken seriously as a font of very grown-up gun control wisdom – but also argues that responding to ‘children’ is wrong – led a boycott, refused an apology, and got his cronies to apply pressure.

Many wondered if Ingraham’s leave of absence might end up becoming permanent. According to a statement from Fox News, it will not.

“We cannot and will not allow voices to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts,” Jack Abernethy, co-president of Fox News, said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. “We look forward to having Laura Ingraham back hosting her program next Monday when she returns from spring vacation with her children.”… One person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to publicly comment said the boycott has not yet resulted in a significant financial hit… Fox News executives will not comment beyond the statement, but privately they believe Ingraham’s offense does not approach the issues that brought down hosts Bill O’Reilly or Glenn Beck, who both lost their shows after advertisers pulled out.

So, if you like Ingraham, you can rest easy. She’ll be back. Kudos to Fox for refusing to bow to the Hoggs of the world. On the other hand, if you can’t stand her, congratulations. She’ll be back. You’ll be able to target her with more phony outrage next week.