Laura Ingraham guest quietly taken off air after proclaiming Black people 'love sneakers'

26 March 2024

Raymond Arroyo — a frequent guest and occasional substitute host on Laura Ingraham's primetime Fox News show — has been noticeably absent since a racially insensitive remark he made last month spread across the internet.

During a February appearance on Ingraham's show, Arroyo — who is white — was lauding former President Donald Trump's new gold-painted sneakers that sell for roughly $400 a pair. He argued that Trump rolling out branded sneakers could make him more palatable to Black voters because "they love sneakers."

"Even the sneaker thing. I was on social media last night. Very interesting as you see Black support eroding from Joe Biden," Arroyo said at the time. "This is connecting with Black America because they love sneakers... This is a big deal. Certainly in the inner city. So when you have Trump roll out his sneaker line, they’re like, ‘Wait a minute, this is cool!"

Arroyo's comments were met with a wave of criticism by Black writers, who slammed him for invoking a stereotype and generalizing an entire race of people.

"If conservatives believe Blacks are so simplistic that shiny sneakers will sway them to vote, it shows you how out of touch they continue to be with the community," Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel columnist James E. Causey wrote.

Joan Brickner — a contributor to the Fargo, North Dakota Forum newspaper — panned Trump's efforts to reach out to the Black community in 2024, reminding readers that his record over the last several decades by far eclipses any rhetoric on the campaign trail.

"This is a man sued for failing to rent to Black people," Brickner wrote. "This is a man who took out a full-page ad in The New York Times to promote executing the Central Park Five, Black and Latino men who had been convicted of raping a white woman – men later cleared, having nothing to do with it, after years of imprisonment. This is a man who has said neo-Nazis and KKK members in Charlottesville included 'fine people.'"

The Daily Beast's Justin Baragona reported that Arroyo hasn't been on the air since that remark, despite being a paid contributor to the network since 2017. This suggests Fox News may have sidelined him over those comments, as he had reportedly been on the air 29 times prior to that comment. 22 of those appearances were on Ingraham's show, and several of the remaining appearances were as co-host of the panel discussion show Outnumbered.

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