Ingraham due back at Fox after tweet backlash, vacation

NEW YORK (AP) — Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham is expected back at work Monday after a backlash by advertisers upset over her tweet mocking a Parkland, Fla., school shooting survivor.

Her one-week vacation served as a cooling-off period. The number of companies saying they would not advertise on her show, at 19, according to a count by Media Matters for America, slowed to a trickle while she was away.

Ingraham also picked up a strong statement of support from her boss and backing from an unexpected source in liberal talk show host Bill Maher late on Friday.

Ingraham has apologized for a tweet in which she said 17-year-old high school student David Hogg whined about being rejected by some colleges. Hogg has said it's "time to love thy neighbor, not mudsling at children."

Their spat became a symbol of a debate over how minors active in national gun safety talks should be treated by political opponents. Another student, Emma Gonzalez, was falsely depicted in a doctored photo tearing up the Constitution.

Hogg has urged companies to reconsider their relationships with Ingraham, a veteran pundit whose Fox show has aired only for a few months.

Ingraham also was criticized in February for saying Cleveland Cavaliers basketball star LeBron James should "shut up and dribble" instead of talking politics. She has said that was a reference to her 2003 book, "Shut Up & Sing," in which she criticized performers who venture into politics. James, a three-time NBA champion, has vowed to keep talking.