On Wednesday, Laura Ingraham, host of the primetime Fox News show Ingraham Angle, mocked 17-year-old Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg for getting rejected by four colleges.

“David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it,” Ingraham tweeted. “(Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates.)”

CREDIT: SCREENGRAB

Ingraham’s tweet links to a Daily Wire aggregation of an interview Hogg did with TMZ in which he discussed getting rejected from four University of California schools.

“It’s not been too great for me and some of the other members of the movement, like Ryan Deitsch,” Hogg said, alluding to how his application process is going after 17 of his classmates were killed in the shooting on February 14. “It’s been kind of annoying having to deal with that and everything else that’s been going on but at this point, you know, we’re changing the world. We’re too busy. Right now it’s hard to focus on that.”


In the six weeks since the shooting, Hogg has emerged as a leading student voice for gun control. As ThinkProgress has detailed, his efforts have sparked a smear campaign against him that started on the fringes of the internet but has become more mainstream, with right-wing voices going as far as to portray him as an aspiring fascist who sends secret messages to followers.

Ingraham’s tweet isn’t the first time Fox News has smeared Parkland survivors. Last month, The Five host Greg Gutfeld amplified a conspiracy theory about Hogg and his fellow students being puppets of larger, nefarious forces that originated with Gateway Pundit.

It also isn’t the first time Ingraham has attacked Hogg personally. The day before Hogg spoke at the March For Our Lives, Ingraham mocked him for using profanity in a video interview in which he called politicians who refuse to consider gun control “sick fuckers.”

FYI—The David Hogg “f-bomb” video is now replaced by this. pic.twitter.com/71EX4XRF5Y — Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 23, 2018

And on March 15, Ingraham posted a condescending tweet about Hogg’s grammar and suggested his “15 Minutes” of fame had expired.

Your 15 Minutes is Up: Perhaps if one stayed in school, one would know to use the plural…. “Parkland Student David Hogg in New Ad: 'What If Our Politicians Weren’t the Bitch of the NRA?'” https://t.co/sD58Z86exM — Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 17, 2018

Donald Trump Jr. has also embraced a conspiracy theory about Hogg. Late last month, Trump Jr. “liked” a tweet suggesting Hogg is “running cover” for the FBI because his father works for the FBI. (Hogg’s father is in fact retired.) Trump Jr. reportedly advised his father on gun control policy following the Parkland shooting.

The NRA has also personally attacked Hogg in a video in which the gun lobby dismisses his viewpoint as “childish.”

UPDATE, March 29, 2:00 PM: Shortly after 1pm on Thursday, Ingraham issued an apology to Hogg on Twitter, and invited him on her nightly show.

Any student should be proud of a 4.2 GPA —incl. @DavidHogg111. 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. For the record, I believe my show was the first to feature David…(1/2) — Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 29, 2018

… 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. WATCH: https://t.co/5wcd00wWpd (2/2) — Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 29, 2018

Ingraham’s apology comes after several advertisers announced they were pulling their business from her show. Previous boycotts targeting Fox News and other conservative outlets have proven extremely effective.