Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Thursday disavowed white nationalists, including former Ku Klux Klan (KKK) leader David Duke, who supported her comments saying the “America we know and love doesn’t exist anymore” over demographic changes due to illegal and legal immigration.
Ingraham, who had made the previous comments during her Fox News show “The Ingraham Angle” on Wednesday, started her show on Thursday addressing the controversy.
“A message to those who are distorting my views, including all white nationalists and especially one racist freak whose name I will not even mention: You do not have my support. You don’t represent my views and you are antithetical to the beliefs I hold dear,” Ingraham said.
{mosads}She said that the purpose of her comments the previous night “was to point out that the rule of law, meaning secure borders, was something that used to bind our country together.”
“And despite what some may be contending, I made explicitly clear that my commentary had nothing to do with race or ethnicity. But rather a shared goal of keeping America safe and her citizens safe and prosperous,” Ingraham continued.
The Fox News host then praised merit-based immigration, saying it “does wonders for our country’s economy, our way of life, and how we define our country.”
“I want to make it really clear that my concern will continue to remain with the families who have suffered the tragic results of illegal immigration,” Ingraham said. “The children put in dangerous and unfair situations at the border and all those border agents around the country who work to keep our country safe.”
Ingraham faced intense criticism for her comments on immigration during her Wednesday night program.
“In some parts of the country it does seem like the America we know and love doesn’t exist anymore,” the Fox News host said at the time. “Massive demographic changes have been foisted upon the American people. And they’re changes that none of us ever voted for and most of us don’t like.
“Now much of this is related to both illegal and, in some cases, legal immigration that of course progressives love,” she added.
Her comments quickly circulated on social media, with some accusing her of using white nationalist talking points.
Conservative television host S.E. Cupp tweeted at Ingraham, “Speak for yourself, and every other last gasp of a dying gen…WE love this country’s diversity.” And Los Angeles Times reporter Matt Pearce referred to Ingraham’s remarks as the “swan song of white nationalism.”
The Daily Beast reported that Duke, a former grand wizard in the KKK, had initially praised Ingraham’s comments in a tweet on Wednesday night. He later deleted the tweet.