Laura Ingraham Calls Out Donald Trump Over ‘Loser’s Strategy’

Fox News broadcaster Laura Ingraham—a key ally of presidential hopeful Donald Trump—appeared to liken his campaign performance to a “loser’s strategy” this week.

The TV host made the comments on her show, The Ingraham Angle, on Fox News on Monday during a conversation with academic and commentator Victor Davis Hanson, a senior fellow at public policy think tank the Hoover Institution.

The pair were discussing Trump’s rally in Atlanta on Saturday, in which he attacked popular Georgia governor and fellow Republican Brian Kemp by accusing him of doing a bad job running the state and alleging that Kemp wanted him “to lose” his bid for the White House. Ingraham said Trump’s attacks were a poor way to campaign and that the strategy was “not going to work” with the Republican voters he needed to attract.

A brief clip of Ingraham’s comments caused a stir on X (formerly Twitter), when the footage was posted on the platform by Meidas Touch News editor Ron Filipkowski. Some 113,000 people viewed the video, which was “liked” more than 1,500 times and shared by more than 260 X users.

The 13-second clip showed Ingraham discussing Trump’s rally, saying: “And then, you know, some of it became about Brian Kemp, the Republican governor. And I’ve said this before, and I’m going to say it again: Shooting inside the tent right now of the Republican Party—that’s a loser’s strategy. That’s not going to work.”

Several X users suggested Ingraham was not addressing the audience, but in fact was trying to get a message to Trump himself.

One X commentator wrote: “This is intended for an audience of one. If she weren’t trying to get Trump to stop sabotaging himself she’d never call him out like this.” Another added: “She’s not providing criticism, that’s campaign advice.”

Some of the Filipkowski’s’s followers interpreted Ingraham’s comments as a sign that Trump could be losing support among key allies. One wrote: “When LAURA INGRAHAM knows what you did was wrong, the time is ticking. And it’s glorious.” Another asked: “Is FOX turning on Trump?” Another added that Trump “is going to hate her calling him a loser, but it is also the first time I’ve heard her say trump can lose on his own stupidity without the Dems needing to cheat!”

Newsweek reached out to Fox News and Trump’s representatives seeking comment.

Davis Hanson agreed with Ingraham, saying: “Absolutely.” He added: “Brian Kemp, whatever the disagreement, has already endorsed Trump.”

Ingraham and Trump have had public disagreements before. Back in May 2023, he denounced her for airing what he called a “hit piece” on polling that showed Republican Florida Governor and then-presidential rival Ron DeSantis may perform better than him in key swing states. Trump predicted Ingraham would lose her audience as a result, saying: “There go her ratings!”

But Ingraham has remained a Trump supporter. Just a couple of months ago, in June, she told her viewers that “if Trump wins, 150 years from now, this will be referred to as ‘The Age of Trump.’ He dominates the policy debate in ways that no one has done since Reagan. It’s not even close.”

Speaking before Trump chose J.D. Vance as his running mate, she added: “If he picks a strong VP—and we have every reason to believe he will—and if this new coalition becomes a governing coalition, well, it could be in power for 50 years.”

In fact, Vance proved to be an unpopular choice and resurfaced comments referring to Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris and other politicians as “childless cat ladies” are widely believed to have damaged Trump’s campaign.

By July, Ingraham’s support for Trump seemed to have cooled somewhat. She called him a “whiner” and begged him to “stop talking about 2020” and the false claims that he had lost the last election due to voter fraud.

That was also the first time she addressed his attacks on Kemp, as well as fellow Republican Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, over a perception they had failed to endorse him. “Keep your eye on the prize: 270 electoral votes,” Ingraham said, apparently addressing Trump directly. “Attacking popular Republican senators or governors in battleground states is more than unwise, it’s self-destructive. Why do it? Voters in a general election want to vote for a winner, not a whiner.”