Fox News host Laura Ingraham expressed no sympathy for federal employees who have been fired or are disgruntled with Elon Musk’s new oversight during Monday evening’s episode of her show, saying they need to “get real jobs in the real world.”
Taking President Donald Trump and Musk’s position that a large number of federal workers are lazy and redundant, Ingraham insinuated Democrats were playing a losing game by “trying to gin up sympathy” for the employees.
“How do you resurrect your party thought, by protecting red tape and the bureaucracy? By trying to gin up sympathy for federal workers who need to get real jobs in the real world like most of America. Ever heard of it?” Ingraham said.
The Fox News host then insulted a federal employee who went on CNN to describe how she felt after receiving the Office of Personnel’s Management’s email requesting they respond with five things they accomplished last week or resign.
“Making a list of what you accomplished in a week, that’s what she was whining about, is harassment and bullying? Of course! Because that requires what, 15 minutes of work?” Ingraham scoffed.
“Now these are the same types that think requiring them to return to the office oftentimes where they haven’t been for four years basically amounts to a hate crime,” she added.
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has been looking for “waste, fraud and abuse” within federal agencies and departments as part of a larger effort to drastically cut certain policies or entire departments in order to save the federal government some money.
Already Musk’s team of young people has made recommendations that led to nearly all employees in the U.S. Agency for International Development being placed on administrative leave, most of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s work being paused and tens of thousands of others being fired throughout the bureaucracy.
Some employees have spoken out about the impact of losing their jobs suddenly.
A veteran of the U.S. Army told NPR he was fired from his job in the Small Business Administration and iced out, unable to obtain paperwork to claim unemployment.
Another employee fired from the U.S. Forest Service told the New York Times he fears he will be unable to pay for his mortgage.
On her show on Monday, Ingraham argued that Trump’s attempts to cut the federal workforce are actually “deeply patriotic” because his efforts are to make the government function more effectively.
Democrats have attempted to seize the moment of chaos to undermine Trump’s leadership and encourage other outraged Americans to fight back against Musk. But so far, they have only relied on the courts to intervene.
Republicans, such as Ingraham, have stood behind Trump and Musk and ridiculed Democrats for their meager attempts.
She called the Democrats’ efforts to push back“unpatriotic.”
