Conservative political commentator Matt Drudge has only one tweet on his otherwise empty Twitter account, and it suggests that Laura Ingraham may be getting a primetime slot at Fox News.
"FALL PREVIEW: Laura Ingraham's prime time to shine! After years in the trenches, much deserved," Drudge's tweet reads.
CNN also reported that a "source with knowledge on the matter" said that although nothing is confirmed, talks of Ingraham's promotion at the network are in the works.
Ingraham has been a regular contributor to Fox News since 2007 and has also acted as a fill-in host. As the network still reels from sexual harassment scandals that have resulted in the firing of Roger Ailes, the termination of Bill O'Reilly and the suspension of Eric Bolling, it is likely looking to reshuffle its deck with fresh talent.
Already, Tucker Carlson, himself a regular face on the network before shifting into an anchor role, has proved a valuable add for Fox News in O'Reilly's former time slot. Ingraham is a similarly proven commodity for the right-wing news giant, one whose politics align with some in-house positions, has guest hosted "The O'Reilly Factor" in the past and briefly held her own Fox News show in 2008.
A former speechwriter and advisor for the Reagan administration, Ingraham has been the voice of her own national radio show since 2001 and describes herself as "the most-listened-to woman in America on political talk radio." She also is also editor-in-chief of the online publication Life Zette that often publishes pieces denouncing what she calls identity politics while forwarding a highly conservative view of cultural issues including family dynamics, feminism and LGBTQ rights.
Ingraham has been a firm supporter of President Donald Trump and has used her radio show and Fox News airtime to advocate on his behalf. She spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2016 (where some took issue with her salute to the crowd). Before his inauguration, it was reported that Ingram was being considered to serve as White House Press Secretary back in the fall of 2016.
Allowing Ingraham to peddle her regular adoration for Trump on his favorite network in primetime — a slot that typically ranks in several million views —would be a right-wing cross promotion dream. It would also represent a further turn towards alt-right values at the network. On top of coddling the racist movement, she's forwarded positions and engaged in behaviors that are radically anti-immigration, anti-Muslim and anti-LGBTQ.
In the wake of Charlottesville murder of Heather Heyer and the riot perpetrated by white supremacists protesting to preserve a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee this weekend, Ingraham compared counter protestors and those who wish to remove Confederate statues to the Taliban. It was an eerie echo of language often used by alt-right agitators such as Richard Spencer.
Certainly, if Ingraham should take up the space vacated by Megyn Kelly, Fox News would be offering an even more radically right-wing slate for its large viewership in a time when radical right-wing politics appear more threatening to the public than in recent memory.
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