Fox’s Ingraham: ‘If I were a liberal, I would watch Rachel Maddow’

New Fox News host Laura Ingraham said if she were liberal, she “would watch Rachel Maddow” on MSNBC, according to an interview with Variety published Thursday.

“If I were a liberal, I would watch Rachel Maddow,” the conservative Ingraham said. “She’s really passionate about what she does.”

“The Rachel Maddow Show” is MSNBC’s highest-rated program and was the most-watched in cable news in the key 25–54 demographic that advertisers covet most over the summer.

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Fox News moved Sean Hannity from his 10 p.m. time slot to 9 p.m. to present a direct contrast to Maddow in terms of style and political perspective and to open up the 10 p.m. slot to Ingraham, a Fox News contributor since 2007. She will compete against MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell and CNN’s Don Lemon on the cable news front.

The former Reagan speechwriter also serves as a nationally syndicated radio host and editor-in-chief of the online publication she founded, Lifezette.com. Her new show, “The Ingraham Angle,” launches on Fox News on Monday. She has hosted programs on Fox News and MSNBC in the past.

Ingraham also praised Maddow at a forum in Florida on Tuesday, stating she respects the progressive host for “fighting every night” for an agenda she believes in.

“She puts on a nightly show that she writes, she believes it, she’s pushing for the agenda for America that she thinks is the right agenda. And she’s fighting every night,” said Ingraham. “I respect the fact that she’s out there fighting.”

The changes at Fox News over the past 13 months include losing three prime-time hosts including Megyn Kelly and Bill O’Reilly, with the latter being ousted in April amid sexual harassment allegations. Former 7 p.m. host Greta Van Susteren also left the network in September 2016 following a contract dispute.

Despite the changes, Fox News has delivered eight of the 10 most-watched programs in cable news and seven of the most-watched shows among viewers in the key 25–54 demographic in the third quarter, according to Nielsen Media Research.