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."

[bray]

Never come to a Tank Battle with a Pea shooter!

Pray for W and Our Troops

[Dr._Joseph_Warren]

Why are they horrified by Ann but genuflect to Bill Maher?

Bingo!!

I'm not a big fan of Ann's style. I do think it pulls the level of discourse down to the gutter.

But these people are hypocrites for attacking her and loving Maher, Stewart and others on the left.

[Def Conservative]

LOL! Laura is classier and smarter? Laura Ingarahm engages in the same type of attacks Ann does on her radioshow! And I love Ingraham but she is NOT smarter than Coulter. I subscribe to her radio show and listen to every one of her broadcasts. She’s funny and engages in the same types of attacks that Ann does.

[Def Conservative]

however lowly scumbags the Edwards' are, they did lose their 15 year old son So? Does this make them off limits? Edwards WAS making his son a campaign issue and had been for years. The Edwards introduced that into the argument, not Coulter.

[advertising guy]

never come to a tank battle with a pea shooter

he has spitballs.......Zell Miller..........hehehehe

[bray]

Of course they never call Rush fat! Libercrites selective outrage is a joke.

Pray for W and Our Troops

[Steve_Seattle]

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

Coulter should have said, "Maybe for the same reasons that liberals made fun of Linda Tripp's looks, Kathleen Harris's makeup, George Bush's looks and intelligence, Paula Jones's working class background, and Kenneth Starr's religion. Maybe for the same reason that a liberal NPR commentator said she'd like to feed Clarence Thomas fatty food so he'd have a heart attack. Maybe for the same reason that all those liberals rejoiced at the death of Jerry Falwell. Please don't give me this sanctimonious, delusional spin that liberals are all sweetness and light and never make personal attacks. That's a g*ddammned lie, and you know it, Chrissy-Pooh."

[jaycee]

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

[television is just wrong]

lol, this is politics. if you can’t the heat get out.

[television is just wrong]

ann went on for the sport of it.

[television is just wrong]

Ann Coullter for President.

[Steve_Seattle]

"You must be confusing her with Laura Ingraham, who is smarter, funnier, classier and more eloquent spokeswoman for the conservative cause."

I've been a long-time critic of Coulter, who lets her own careless comments become the issue and detracts from the real issues. Yes, I know that the media gives libs a pass on their own meanness, but why play into their hands by giving them an easy target?

The comment about Edwards being assassinated was an obvious sarcastic reference to Maher's comments about Cheney, but the general public didn't even know about Maher's comments, so Anne was completely and predictably misrepresented. If she's so smart, she shouldn't put herself in this position over and over again.

[Owen]

STOP

WATCHING

THAT

SHOW.

Why is this so hard?

[Steve_Seattle]

"Ann is the kind of attack person the COnservatives need. You fight people on their own level and taking the High Road has only led Republicans and conservatives to defeat and self-destruction."

No she isn't. Attack, yes, but be intelligent about it. Don't attack dead children; don't make comments so ambiguous - like the one about the 9/11 widows enjoying their husbands deaths - that the enemy can easily spin them against you. There is a right way and a stupid way to be aggressive and to go on offense, and Coulter picks the wrong way almost every time.

[RonDog]

Ann Coulter for President!!!

From www.cafepress.com/veertotheright:

View larger image

[Designer]

"she carries herself very well in a one-on-one"

Or two against one, or three against one, or for that matter, three hundred against one as well.

[Designer]

"..Let Ann call in.."

LOL!

You're right; won't happen.

[TexasCajun]

Sissy is the world's worst at talking over a guest who is trying to answer his question.

...not to mention spitting all over them. Good thing Ann was sitting far away.

[Designer]

MSNBC HARDBALL HAIRBALL 397,000

There, fixed it.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I haven’t watched Softball in years but did this AM. He’s a larger flaming tool than I remember. Others are correct that Ann can dish it out and take it but others can’t and wont. This ambush will sure make non Democrats think twice before appearing on his show.

If Softball had any guts he would treat all guests nearly the same. You’ll never see him treat a Democrat the same way as the fast one he pulled on Ann.