Fox News host Laura Ingraham hit a nerve after her racist attack on a recent proposal to grant reparations to Black Americans impacted by the legacy of slavery.
Ingraham made the remarks during a Thursday episode of her podcast, during which she argued there are no “do-overs” after a “conquest,” The Daily Beast reported.
Criticizing the idea of reparations, Fox News host Laura Ingraham declared there are “no do-overs” after a “conquest.” (Photo by Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The political commentator played a clip of writer Ta-Nehisi Coates blasting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for his assertion that the election of Barack Obama meant reparations were no longer necessary. Ingraham’s guest, Wilford Reilly, an author and professor at the HBCU Kentucky State, sided with McConnell and argued that reparations would open the door for Native Americans to demand the same.
“I mean, obviously both white and black soldiers, frankly, took this country from the Indians — the first people,” said Reilly.
Ingraham chimed in: “People would argue that the whole world, and I would, the whole world has been reshaped by people taking other people’s land. It’s called conquest.”
“Describing world politics, we won, you lost, that’s that,” she added. “That’s just the way it is … No do-overs, that’s it.”
Her shocking dismissal of the issue spurred a torrent of backlash from critics who were disgusted over her remarks.
“This is so gross I can’t believe it was uttered,” writer Sam Stein tweeted.
“Laura Ingraham is a white nationalist,” wrote another. “Her argument against reparations for African-Americans and indigenous and native peoples: ‘It’s called conquest … we won, you lost, that’s that.'”
“Who is ‘we?’ Who is ‘they?’ What was ‘won’ and ‘lost?’ Also, the rest of you are allowed to call these people racists. Its OK. You can do it now,” tweeted writer Wahajat Ali.
Another wrote, “To @IngrahamAngle…it’s called America. We built it, you didn’t and that’s that. So we demand reparations for doing your work for you. Perhaps if your ancestors picked their own cotton we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”
One critic argued that it should shock no one at all that Ingraham, 56, has a “frankly disgusting and offensive view of how America doesn’t need to atone for and repair the damage done by slavery.”
The Fox commentator has faced controversy over her past comments, prompting waves of advertisers to pull out of her show. In May, photo service Fracture cut ties with Ingraham’s program after she defended a white supremacist and criticized social media sites for banning him.
Hear more in the clip below.
Disgusting
— jordan (@JordanUhl) June 20, 2019
Laura Ingraham on reparations: "It's called conquest … we won, you lost, that's that"
"No do-overs, that's it" pic.twitter.com/I3eIxEawWX
