Russian bots flock to Laura Ingraham feud with Parkland student: report

Russian bots on Twitter appear to be latching on to the feud between Fox News host Laura Ingraham and Parkland, Fla., shooting survivor David Hogg.

Hamilton 68, a website that tracks Twitter accounts linked to Russian influence campaigns, found that the use of the hashtag #IstandwithLaura spiked 2,800 percent over the weekend, the Chicago Tribune reported on Monday.

Another bot-monitoring project, Botcheck.me, reported that “David Hogg” and “Laura Ingraham” were the top two-word phrases being shared by Russia-linked accounts.

{mosads}Russia-linked bot accounts typically seize on divisive issues in American politics. In the days after the Parkland shooting, trending hashtags among Russian bots included “#Parkland, #guncontrolnow, #Florida and #guncontrol.”

Botcheck also found that @ingrahamangle, @davidhogg111 and @foxnews were in the top accounts named in tweets from Russia-linked accounts over the weekend, according to the Tribune.

Ingraham came under fire last week after mocking Hogg on Twitter over his college rejections.

David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA…totally predictable given acceptance rates.) https://t.co/wflA4hWHXY

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) March 28, 2018

Hogg then fired back by targeting her advertisers.

Pick a number 1-12 contact the company next to that #

Top Laura Ingraham Advertisers
1. @sleepnumber
2. @ATT
3. Nutrish
4. @Allstate & @esurance
5. @Bayer
6. @RocketMortgage Mortgage
7. @LibertyMutual
8. @Arbys
9. @TripAdvisor
10. @Nestle
11. @hulu
12. @Wayfair

— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 28, 2018

Ingraham apologized, but not before companies began pulling their ads from “The Ingraham Angle.”

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

Hogg refused to accept her apology, and later doubled down on his criticism of the Fox News host, calling her a “bully.”

I 100% agree an apology in an effort just to save your advertisers is not enough. I will only accept your apology only if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and I️ in this fight. It’s time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children. https://t.co/H0yWs4zMGk

— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 29, 2018

Ingraham is taking a break from her show this week due to a pre-planned vacation. At least 16 companies have pulled their ads from her show or said they do not plan to advertise on it in the future.