Laura Ingraham: My Immigration Rant Had ‘Nothing to Do With Race’

Fox News host Laura Ingraham claimed Thursday that her angry rant the previous evening about demographic changes in America had nothing to do with race or xenophobia.

Wednesday, the Fox News host had lamented demographic changes in the United States, and claimed that Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were attempting to “remake” the country. Citing the Democratic congressional nominee’s critique of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, she launched into a screed about the left’s embrace of immigrants.

“In some parts of the country, it does seem like the America we know and love doesn’t exist anymore,” Ingraham said. “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. From Virginia to California, we see stark examples of how radically in some ways the country has changed. Now much of this is related to both illegal, and in some cases, legal immigration that, of course, progressives love.”

After the segment was widely condemned by many Democrats and Republicans for its overt racial overtones, Ingraham on Thursday took to the air to deny that she had referred to immigrants or people of color at all.

“The purpose of last night’s Angle was to point out that the rule of law, meaning secure borders, is something that used to bind our country together,” she said. “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.”

While she said that “merit based immigration does wonders for our country’s economy,” Ingraham did not clarify Thursday why she had said Wednesday that legal immigrants were part of the negative demographic shifts that had been “foisted on the American people.”

Both Ingraham and fellow Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson have been criticized over the past year for racially charged rhetoric.

And while their comments have garnered scorn in mainstream news outlets, they have earned praise among a different group: white nationalists.

Before Ingraham returned to the air Thursday, white nationalists including former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke had praised the Fox News host for her comments on Wednesday.

“One of the most important (truthful) monologues in the history of MSM,” he wrote in a since deleted tweet about Igraham’s monologue.

During her show on Thursday, Ingraham distanced herself from Duke and other white nationalists, saying that they were "distorting my views."

"You do not have my support, you don't represent my views, and you are antithetical to the beliefs I hold dear," Ingraham said.