Vieira on Coulter: "Of course we are" part of the problem, "[w]e're perpetuating it"

CNBC host Donny Deutsch appeared on the October 12 edition of NBC's Today to discuss right-wing pundit Ann Coulter's appearance on the October 8 edition of his show, CNBC's The Big Idea, during which she said "we" Christians "just want Jews to be perfected." On Today, Deutsch said, "And I think that's what -- we're playing dangerous with words in our society that there's no accountability. There's a glibness that we in the media kind of elevate, and I'm here to kind of say I'm personally tired of it, and I think America is tired of it also." Deutsch later told Today co-host Meredith Vieira that someone might ask, "Aren't we part of the problem?" Vieira responded: "Of course we are. We're perpetuating it."

Deutsch also said of Coulter's comments: "I think the consumer's going to start to vote and I think you're going to see less of this stuff on television. If you really following, the things that are successful today, hate is going out."

Deutsch's comments on Today mark at least the fifth time an NBC, MSNBC, or CNBC host has expressed disapproval of Coulter's "harsh" and "nasty" statements, as Media Matters has documented. Hosts who have criticized Coulter include Vieira's co-host on Today, Matt Lauer, Tonight Show host Jay Leno, Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, and Hardball host Chris Matthews.

During the Today segment, Deutsch said of Coulter's appearance: "It's ironic she was on my show because our show, as you know, is about motivation and success stories. I pride that it's the only kind of positive night-time talk show." Deutsch stated: "I didn't even want -- we didn't even want to run this." However, Vieira noted, as Media Matters documented, that Coulter had appeared on Deutsch's show less than 18 months earlier and had also used inflammatory rhetoric: "Last year on your show, about Bill Clinton she said, 'I think that sort of rampant promiscuity does show some level of latent homosexuality.' " After noting two other controversial remarks by Coulter, Vieira told Deutsch: "This is her stock-in-trade. Talk about marketing."

From the October 12 edition of NBC's Today:

LAUER: Conservative commentator Ann Coulter is no stranger to controversy, and she's made big money by being outspoken, but some critics claim her comments this week on CNBC's The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch crossed a line. Are they right? You decide.

[video clip of Coulter's appearance on Deutsch's October 8 show]

VIEIRA: Donny Deutsch, good morning. Watching it again, your reaction?

DEUTSCH: I have to set the context up.

VIEIRA: OK:

DEUTSCH: It's very interesting. It's ironic she was on my show because our show, as you know, is about motivation and success stories. I pride that it's the only kind of positive night-time talk show.

VIEIRA: But you put her on.

DEUTSCH: It's an American Dream -- I put her on --actually my producer didn't want to -- to celebrate her business model. Like her or hate her, she has a very successfully business model. She goes to the extreme. She makes millions. Let's analyze the business model. So I didn't want to fight at all. I was like, "You know what? Enough of this nonsense."

VIEIRA: But this is part of her business model, isn't it? To be provocative.

DEUTSCH: OK, which, exactly -- she demonstrated. And frankly, in my old days, I would have started screaming. I guess to me -- I think we're at a moment in time. I think it's over. I think it's silly. I think we are creating between -- I want to link her and Britney Spears. It's very interesting. Britney Spears will crash her car again --

VIEIRA: [unintelligible] Yeah.

DEUTSCH: -- because until she does, she doesn't exist. Ann Coulter, without even realizing it -- I don't think she was doing that on purpose. She genuinely was like, "I'm sorry I offended you." But we're creating these critters in the media -- that she -- until she does that, she doesn't exist. And I want to hear somebody in the media to say, "It's kind of over. It's boring. It's silly." I think -- and I think the candidates need to follow this. I didn't -- we didn't service this. I didn't even want -- we didn't even want to run this. I think people are just tired of this nonsense.

VIEIRA: But what is it about this that crossed the line? Can we go down memory lane with Ann Coulter?

DEUTSCH: Sure. Yeah.

VIEIRA: Last year on your show, about Bill Clinton she said, "I think that sort of rampant promiscuity does show some level of latent homosexuality."

DEUTSCH: Right.

VIEIRA: Muslims: "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, convert them to Christianity." On the 9-11 widows, she said among other things, "I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much."

DEUTSCH: Right.

VIEIRA: This is her stock-in-trade. Talk about marketing.

DEUTSCH: There's -- exactly. Which -- and this -- she's a lounge act. The scary thing for me here was she wasn't doing it on purpose. She wasn't. And I think that's what -- we're playing dangerous with words in our society that there's no accountability. There's a glibness that we in the media kind of elevate, and I'm here to kind of say I'm personally tired of it, and I think America is tired of it also.

VIEIRA: So you're saying she should not be allowed on the air?

DEUTSCH: Oh, of course she should be allowed on the air. It's free speech. But I think the consumer's going to start to vote, and I think you're going to see less of this stuff on television. If you're really following the things that are successful today, hate is going out. People are seeing the stu-- when the producer is booking the show goes, "Oh, here we go again." People are just tired -- you're tired of it. I'm tired of it. And forget -- this is not an indictment on her. This is not a religious discussion. This, to me, is a moment in time where we kind of say, "Enough." Everybody in the studio is there watching, going, "Oh," yet we're talking about it. So you go, "Wait a second. Aren't we part of the problem?"

VIEIRA: Of course we are. We're perpetuating it.

DEUTSCH: But I'm going to raise my hand as one and say, "You know what? Over. Done. I don't care. It's not that interesting. It really isn't."

VIEIRA: All right, Donny Deutsch. Thanks very much.