A bouquet, a card and a tray of decorated cookies became Laura Ingraham’s way of ending a three-night silence.
The Fox News host posted the photograph Friday on social media. Her short message explained why she had been missing from her prime-time slot.
Laryngitis was the reason. “Sorry because of laryngitis I missed the past three days (terrible timing!),” Ingraham wrote.
Ingraham, 63, sat out three consecutive broadcasts of “The Ingraham Angle” before she addressed the absence. Regular viewers had noticed her empty chair and started asking questions online.
Her post arrived on the ninth anniversary of the program, which fell on Friday, Oct. 30. She did not host that night either.
The cookies in her photo marked the occasion. One showed Ingraham’s image inside a television screen. Another read “The Ingraham Angle 9 Years.”
She used the post to address the people behind the show. “Thank you to our loyal viewers, dedicated staff, and @FoxNews!” she wrote.
She also named a return date. “Back from New York on Monday night,” she told followers.
She closed with a single word for her audience, days before the midterm elections on Tuesday, Nov. 3. “Vote!” she wrote.
Laryngitis is an inflammation of the voice box. Medical guidance cited in reports lists hoarseness, throat discomfort and temporary loss of voice among its common effects.
Fox News has widened its political coverage as voters prepare to decide control of the House and Senate. “The Ingraham Angle” airs weeknights at 7 p.m. Eastern as part of the network’s prime-time lineup.
The program debuted in October 2017. Ingraham already had a decade of history with the network at that point, having joined Fox News as a contributor in 2007.
Politics, Washington and cultural issues drive the show’s content. Its guest list includes politicians, administration officials and other newsmakers.
Ingraham has sat down with numerous presidents, members of Congress and White House officials during her time at Fox.
She has moderated network town halls and co-appears with Raymond Arroyo on the Fox Nation program “Laura & Raymond.”
Last year, she commemorated the show’s eighth anniversary with a look back at its memorable moments.
The retrospective featured interviews with President Donald Trump and other political figures, plus several episodes that drew attention outside Fox’s usual viewership.
Her career started in the legal world. Ingraham practiced as an attorney and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
She then built a national following in conservative talk radio, and television gradually became a larger part of her work.
She has also written several books: “The Hillary Trap,” “Shut Up & Sing,” “Power to the People” and “The Obama Diaries.”
Ingraham studied at Dartmouth College as an undergraduate and went on to earn her law degree at the University of Virginia School of Law.
Her absence prompted questions because it overlapped with the show’s anniversary and the last stretch of the midterm campaign.
If she returns Monday night as she said she expects, she will be on the air one night before Election Day.
