Chris Matthews Sandbags Ann Coulter With Live Call-In From Elizabeth Edwards

NewBusters ^

[Sub-Driver]

Chris Matthews Sandbags Ann Coulter With Live Call-In From Elizabeth Edwards Posted by Geoffrey Dickens on June 26, 2007 - 19:26.

On tonight's Hardball, MSNBC's Chris Matthews blind-sided his guest, conservative columnist Ann Coulter, with a live call from Elizabeth Edwards. The wife of presidential candidate John Edwards, proceeded to demand Coulter to stop her "personal attacks" on her husband, but Coulter shot back that at least she wasn't "bankrupting doctors by giving a shyster, Las Vegas routine."

The following is the full transcript of the exchange as it occurred on the June 26th edition of Hardball:

Chris Matthews: "You know who's on the line? Somebody to respond to what you said about Edwards, yesterday morning, Elizabeth Edwards. She wanted to call in today, we said she could. Elizabeth Edwards go on the line, you're on the line with Ann Coulter."

Elizabeth Edwards: "Hello Chris."

Matthews: "Do you want to say something directly to the person who's with me?"

Edwards: "I was calling, you know, in the South when we, when someone does something that displeases us we want to ask them, politely, to stop doing it. I'd like to ask Ann Coulter to, if she wants to debate on issues, on positions, we certainly disagree with nearly everything she said on your show today. But, but it's quite another matter, to, for these personal attacks. The things she has said over the years, not just about John but about other candidates is, lowers our, our political dialogue, precisely at the time we need to raise it. So I want to use the opportunity, which I don't get much, because Ann and I don't hang out with the same people."

Coulter: "I don't have enough money."

Edwards: "To ask her, politely, to stop the personal attacks."

Coulter: "Okay so I made a joke, let's see, six months ago, and as you point out, they've been raising money off of it, for six months, since then."

Matthews: "But this is just yesterday morning, what you said about him."

Coulter: "I didn't say anything about him, actually, either time."

Edwards: "Ann, Ann you know that's not true. And, and once more, this has been going on for some time."

Coulter: "I don't mind you trying to raise money. I mean it's better this than giving $50,000 speeches to the poor-"

Edwards: "I'm asking you-"

Coulter: "-just to use-

Edwards: "I'm asking you, politely-"

Coulter: "-my name on the Web pages. But as for a debate with me, yeah sure. Yeah we'll have a debate."

Edwards: "I'm asking you, politely, to stop, to stop personal attacks..."

Coulter: "How about you stop raising money on your Web page then? No, you don't have to because, I don't mind."

Edwards: "It didn't start, it did not, it didn't start, it did not start with that. You had a column a number of years ago where you suggested-"

Coulter: "Okay the wife of a presidential candidate-"

Edwards: "Wait till I finish talking please."

Coulter: "-who's calling in and asking me to stop speaking?"

Matthews: "Let her finish the point, let her finish the point."

Coulter: "You're asking me to stop speaking. ‘Stop writing your columns. Stop writing your books.'"

Edwards: "You had a column, you wrote a column several years ago-"

Matthews: "Ann, please."

Coulter: "Okay."

Edwards: "Which made, which made fun of the moment of Charlie Dean's death and suggested that my husband had a bumper sticker on the back of his car that said, ‘Ask me about my dead son.'"

Coulter: "That's now three years ago."

Edwards: "This is not legitimate political dialogue. It debases political dialogue. It draws people away from the process. We can't have a debate about issues if you're using this kind of language."

Coulter responding to audience member: "Yeah why isn't John Edwards making this call?"

Matthews: "Well do you want to respond, while I end this conversation?"

Edwards: "I, I haven't talked to John about this call."

Coulter: "This is just another attempt for-"

Edwards: "I am making this call as a mother. I am, I'm the mother of that boy who died. I, my children participate. These young people behind you are the age of my children, particularly, you're asking them to participate in a dialogue that's based on, on hatefulness and ugliness instead of on the issues and I don't, I don't think that's serving them or this country very well."

[applause]

Matthews: "Thank you very much, Elizabeth Edwards. Well do you, you have all the time in the world to respond to that."

Coulter: "I think, I think we heard all we need to hear. The wife of a presidential candidate is asking me to stop speaking. No."

Matthews: "No, she said you should stop being so negative to people, individually."

Coulter: "Right, as opposed to bankrupting doctors by giving a shyster, Las Vegas routine-"

Matthews: "Okay."

Coulter: "-in front of juries based on science. Wait, you said I'd have as long I would have-"

Matthews: "Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead."

Coulter: "-and you instantly interrupted me. As I was saying, doing these psychic routines in front of illiterate juries to bankrupt doctors, who now can't deliver babies. And to charge a, a poverty group $50,000 for a speech. Don't talk to me about, about how to use language."

Matthews: "Elizabeth?"

Coulter: "That language of hate. And I'm, I, I'm gonna ask you, again, to politely stop using personal attacks as part of your dialogue."

Coulter: "Okay, I'll stop writing books."

Matthews: "Why do you talk about-"

Edwards: "If you can't write them, without them, then that's fine."

Matthews: "Why do talk about Hillary's chubby legs in your book?"

[laughter from audience]

Matthews: "Why do you, I mean, that, that might fall under the category of personal attacks, I don't know, but why do you do that? Why do you talk about Monica Lewinsky's chubbiness? If she were skinny would it had been okay?"

Coulter: "I don't know, read the sentence."

Matthews: "I read the whole sentence, I couldn't feel the context."

Coulter: "Well you have to give it to me and I could explain."

Matthews: "Why do you bring up the word, ‘chubby?' Why do you make fun of Hillary's chubby legs?"

Coulter: "I, I don't know, you're going to have to give me the sentence. And I think-"

Matthews: "It's in the afterward of your book, I just read it this morning."

Coulter: "Well read the sentence!"

Matthews: "We'll, we'll be back and read the entire sentence. We're gonna come right back, I don't know why we're reading, the full intellectual context will be coming in a moment."

Coulter: "Thank you."

[bestrongbpositive]

I hope she lives a long life but you can bet if she dies the breck girl will sue her Doctor’s for malpractice..

[advertising guy]

well I got up early and read the threads about HARDBALL and almost all are missing the point......Mrs Silky Pony was not the story..the whole interview was.....many many things discussed,,,,edwards was just a whirlwind in the middle

Coulter took Matthews big gubment and shot it down
attacked Bush BIG TIME..........she was stinging but accurate and made Chris look like a sissy

[apocalypto]

Good comment.

[jaycee]

Thank you for this thread. I intend to read every comment before this day is over. I watched the whole thing and part of it twice between “Spitting Chris and Winner Ann Coulter.” That gal never lets ‘anyone’ get the last word. Hallelujah! Elizabeth Edwards.........poor baby. All they want is sympathy. They will use it until this presidential contest is over and the Breck Girl will never win...thanks again!

[NCLaw441]

In the interview do you recall Coulter saying that she wished Edwards had died on 9/11 or anything like that? Our local NBC affiliate suggested that she did, and I did not hear that.

[bray]

This stunt could knock Johnboy out of the race. Extremely cheap and cowardice hiding behind his cancer ridden wife.

Pray for W and Our Troops

[TexasCajun]

Just what this country needs, a President that has his wife fight his battles!!

[TexasCajun]

It was surprising to hear Matthews come out against the Amnesty bill in his conversation with Ann.

That surprised me too.

But it shouldn't, Chris spins it as The President's Bill and didn't have a bad word for the author, Teddy "The Swimmer" Kennedy.

[TexasCajun]

Al Franken and Bill Maher are Christian-hating, Enemy-Loving, lying, decietful liberal elitist.

Ann is none of those things, and uses their own words against them.

What do you want? Conservatives to just roll over on their backs and pee themselves when attacked my the likes of Franken, Maher, Rhodes, Olbermann and others?

[TexasCajun]

Ann is a bitch. She shouldn’t say those things about a dead child. I don’t care how big of an a-hole Edwards is.

Yeah right! The only thing worst could be making millions and millions off dead babies, by suing doctors and hospitals, telling jurors you are in physic contact with a dead child to sway jurors in your favor.

I love the way Ann treats liberals!!

[stevio]

Ann Coulter for President!!!

[GretchenM]

Edwards: "Which ... suggested that my husband had a bumper sticker on the back of his car that said, ‘Ask me about my dead son.'"

Coulter: "That's now three years ago."

I missed this when it was news. Everything Ms. Edwards said centered around this. Talk about someone doing a slow burn. I guess Ms. Edwards hasn't signed on with that MoveON.org guy's agenda.

[NordP]

EXcellent assessment!

[TexasCajun]

I especially like the "Hillary's Fat Legs" exchange!

Ann made him read to her the whole sentence and Chris obliged and read the whole Clinton/Lewinsky paragraph.

[RonDog]

Check out these MORE RECENT threads:

Mixed-Up in the Morning: Matthews Discusses 'Ann Edwards' Dust-up
	Posted by governsleastgovernsbest On News/Activism 06/27/2007 5:26:23 AM PDT · 23 replies · 1,011+ views NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein
***YouTube video of ANN COULTER vs Lizzy Edwards[MRS. "Silky Pony"] from Hardball (6/26/07)***
	Posted by Syncro On News/Activism 06/27/2007 1:00:10 AM PDT · 140 replies · 2,943+ views THE INSTITUTE OF PHENOMONOLOGY ^ | June27, 2007 | Dr. Zoo

[jaycee]

Thanks for your comments....I do pray for our beloved President every day. I will stand by his side!

[jaycee]

Chris accused her of that and she told him to read it in its entirety. She was referring to something Bill Maher had said about wishing V. P. Cheney had been killed. No use to talk to “spitting Chris”.....wild man, crazy, such a blatent Democratic grilling someone like Ann. Ann pretty much takes care of herself, doesn’t she?

[jaycee]

“Teddy “The Swimmer”

LOVE THAT DESCRIPTION!! GOOD ONE!

[jpl]

Man, this Elizabeth Edwards sure is some thin-skinned broad! First she tried to publicly embarrass that neighbor of hers because of his Giuliani sign, now she's getting into a yelling match with Ann Coulter over a column she wrote years ago.

And wasn't she supposed to be dying of cancer or something? I guess she's feeling a lot better.

[jaycee]

When Chris kept asking Ann why she had to say something about Hillary’s fat legs (like he has never said anything detrimental about Republicans, her answer should have been “Because they are fat”. That would have shut him up...take that back...nothing shuts him up. LOL!