Ann Coulter
Ann Hart Coulter (/ˈkoʊltər/; born December 8, 1961) is an American conservative media pundit, author, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She became known as a media pundit in the late 1990s, appearing in print and on cable news as an outspoken critic of the Clinton administration. Her first book concerned the impeachment of Bill Clinton and sprang from her experience writing legal briefs for Paula Jones's attorneys, as well as columns she wrote about the cases.[2] Coulter's syndicated column for Universal Press Syndicate appears in newspapers and is featured on conservative websites. Coulter has also written 13 books.[3]
Ann Coulter
December 8, 1961
- Pundit
- author
- columnist
- lawyer
Candidate endorsements
Coulter initially supported George W. Bush's presidency, but later criticized its approach to immigration. She endorsed Duncan Hunter[144] and later Mitt Romney in the 2008 Republican presidential primaries[145] and the 2012 Republican presidential primary and presidential run.[146] In the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, she endorsed Donald Trump.[147] Coulter later distanced herself from Trump following arguments over immigration policies; she called for his impeachment in September 2017, saying "Put a fork in Trump, he's dead".[148] She described herself in 2018 as a "former Trumper";[149] in a 2020 speech to a Turning Point USA event, she said, "The Trump agenda without Trump would be a lot easier. Our new motto should be 'Going on with Trumpism without Trump.' That's a winning strategy."[150] Coulter blamed Trump's son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner for Trump's 2020 election loss, and said that Trump had failed to deliver for the white working class.[151]
Other candidates Coulter has endorsed include Greg Brannon (2014 Republican primary candidate for North Carolina Senator),[152] Paul Nehlen (2016 Republican primary candidate for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives),[153] Mo Brooks (2017 Republican primary candidate for Alabama Senator), and Roy Moore (2017 Republican candidate for Alabama Senator).[154]
Controversies
Anti-semitism accusations
Coulter was accused of anti-semitism in an October 8, 2007, interview with Donny Deutsch on The Big Idea. During the interview, Coulter stated that the United States is a Christian nation, and said that she wants "Jews to be perfected, as they say" (referring to them being converted to Christianity).[155] Deutsch, a practicing Jew, implied that this was an anti-semitic remark, but Coulter said she did not consider it to be a hateful comment.[156][157] Coulter's comments on the show were condemned by the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee and Bradley Burston,[158] and the National Jewish Democratic Council asked media outlets to cease inviting Coulter as a guest commentator.[159] Talk show host Dennis Prager, while disagreeing with her comments, said that they were not "anti-semitic", noting, "There is nothing in what Ann Coulter said to a Jewish interviewer on CNBC that indicates she hates Jews or wishes them ill, or does damage to the Jewish people or the Jewish state. And if none of those criteria is present, how can someone be labeled anti-Semitic?"[160][161][162] Conservative activist David Horowitz also defended Coulter against the allegation.[163]
Coulter in September 2015 tweeted in response to multiple candidates' references to Israel during a Republican presidential primary debate, "How many f—ing Jews do these people think there are in the United States?"[164] The Anti-Defamation League referred to the tweets as "ugly, spiteful and anti-Semitic".[165] In response to accusations of anti-Semitism, she tweeted "I like the Jews, I like fetuses, I like Reagan. Didn't need to hear applause lines about them all night."[164]
Plagiarism accusations
In October 2001, Coulter was accused of plagiarism for her 1998 book High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton by Michael Chapman, a columnist for the journal Human Events who claims that passages were taken from a supplement he wrote for the journal in 1997 titled "A Case for Impeachment".[131]
On the July 5, 2006, episode of Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, guest John Barrie, the CEO of iParadigms, offered his professional opinion that Coulter plagiarized in her book Godless as well as in her columns over the previous year.[166] Barrie ran "Godless" through iThenticate, his company's machine, which is able to scan works and compare them to existing texts. He found a 25-word section of the text that was "virtually word-for-word" matched with a Planned Parenthood pamphlet and a 33-word section almost duplicating a 1999 article from the Portland Press as some examples of evidence.[166] Barrie also said that it was "very, very difficult to try to determine whether Ann Coulter was citing that material or whether she was just trying to pass it off".[166]
Left-wing activist group[167] Media Matters for America has appealed to Random House publishing to further investigate Coulter's work.[168] The syndicator of her columns cleared her of the plagiarism charges.[169] Universal Press Syndicate and Crown Books also defended Coulter against the charges.[170]
Columnist Bill Nemitz from the Portland Press Herald accused Coulter of plagiarizing a very specific sentence from his newspaper in her book Godless, but he also acknowledged that one sentence is insufficient grounds for filing suit.[171]
Public perception
Coulter was played by Cobie Smulders in Impeachment: American Crime Story; Betty Gilpin was originally cast in the role but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. The series portrays Coulter's actions while assisting the prosecution in Clinton v. Jones.[172]
Coulter was satirically depicted in season 2, episode 11 of The Boondocks—"The S Word"—where she voiced support for a white teacher in the show who said the N-word.
Personal life
Coulter has been engaged several times, but she has never married and has no children.[28] She has dated Spin founder and publisher Bob Guccione Jr.[49] and conservative writer Dinesh D'Souza.[173][174] In October 2007, she began dating Andrew Stein, the former president of the New York City Council, a liberal Democrat. On January 7, 2008, however, Stein told the New York Post that the relationship was over, citing irreconcilable differences.[175] Kellyanne Conway, who refers to Coulter as a friend, told New York magazine in 2017 that Coulter "started dating her security guard probably ten years ago because she couldn't see anybody else".[176]
Coulter owns a house, bought in 2005, in Palm Beach, Florida, a condominium in Manhattan, and an apartment in Los Angeles. She votes in Palm Beach and is not registered to do so in New York or California.[177]
