On the October 11 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer played clips from the October 8 edition of CNBC's The Big Idea, during which, as Media Matters for America documented, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter answered, “Yes,” when asked by host Donny Deutsch, “It would be better if we were all Christian?” Coulter later added: "[W]e just want Jews to be perfected, as they say." During the Situation Room segment, Democratic strategist James Carville said of Coulter: “She's made other hideous comments, equally as hideously and equally as outrageous,” adding: "[N]o one should be -- if you have Ann Coulter on your show, you have to expect her to say things that are like that."
As Media Matters documented, as of October 1, Coulter had been interviewed at least 194 times on at least 13 individual programs on MSNBC, CNBC, and NBC since April 28, 1997 -- apparently her first appearance on the network. Media Matters has extensively documented a number of highly controversial remarks Coulter has made during these appearances on NBC-owned channels. Media Matters also noted specifically that Coulter, when interviewed by Deutsch on the July 26, 2006, edition of The Big Idea, said that former President Bill Clinton exhibits “some level of latent homosexuality.” Earlier that day, MSNBC had hyped that interview as “must-see TV.”
When asked for comment during the Situation Room segment, CNSNews.com editor-in-chief Terry Jeffrey said: “What I can guarantee you, she's a good person. She's not anti-Semitic and that's what I can say given from what you just showed me.”
From the October 11 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:
BLITZER: We're going to have a full report in the next hour on these latest controversial comments from the conservative commentator Ann Coulter. She was on NBC. It's crossing our CNN political ticker right now, but I just want to get you guys to react to this. It's a little clip of what she said on Donny Deutsch's program. Listen to this exchange they had.
[begin video clip]
DEUTSCH: [S]o we should be Christian? It would be better if we were all Christian?
COULTER: Yes.
DEUTSCH: We should be -- all be Christian?
COULTER: Yes. Would you like to come to church with me, Donny?
DEUTSCH: So --
[...]
DEUTSCH: [W]e should just throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians, then, or --
COULTER: Yeah.
DEUTSCH: Really?
COULTER: Well, it's a lot easier. It's kind of a fast track.
[...]
COULTER: [W]e just want Jews to be perfected, as they say.
DEUTSCH: Wow, you didn't really say that, did you?
COULTER: Yes. That is what Christianity is. We believe the Old Testament, but ours is more like Federal Express. You have to obey laws. We know we're all sinners.
[end video clip]
BLITZER: Well, let's let James Carville go first. What do you think?
CARVILLE: I don't think much of Ann Coulter, and I don't think much of the Republican Party. She headlines all the events. She's always on the news. I -- in fact, I think very little of her. I'm not surprised by those comments. She's made other hideous comments, equally as hideously and equally as outrageous.
I know Donny Deutsch. He's a good guy. I think he was -- he was probably shocked and offended by it, but that -- that's -- no one should be -- if you have Ann Coulter on your show, you have to expect her to say things that are like that, and that's part of -- that's what comes with it and the Republicans keep her as a headliner, I think they're going to pay for it.
BLITZER: What do you think, Terry?
JEFFREY: Well, first of all, Ann Coulter is a friend of mine and I know that she's a good person. She's certainly not anti-Semitic. And I don't think the Donny Deutsch place is a place to discuss profound issues of theology.
I had no idea if Ann -- what Ann said or anything -- even that she'd said, until a few moments before I came on this show, and I can't make any judgment, to tell you the truth, about what she said from those video clips. What I can guarantee you, she's a good person. She's not anti-Semitic and that's what I can say given from what you just showed me.
BLITZER: But do you think there'll be pressure, though, from -- on Republican presidential candidates and other Republicans to disassociate themselves from her now given the nature -- not only of these remarks, but a lot of other remarks she's made.
JEFFREY: Well, you know, first we'd have to get into a pretty serious -- first of all, we'd have to discern what actually Ann Coulter said and what Ann -- actually Ann Coulter meant. And then, are we really going to get into a debate in presidential campaigns about people's theology? Everybody's trying to say that we don't have a religious test for office in this country. Are we going to go to each candidate and ask them, “OK, we want to know exactly what you think about the nature of Jesus Christ, the nature of Christianity, the nature of Judaism?” No, I don't think we want to get into that.
BLITZER: James?
CARVILLE: Well, first of all, she's a prominent Republican that does many Republican events and I have -- how do I say this without sounding ridiculous? -- I have thousands of Jewish friends, OK? And I -- and I said -- and I never once heard a single one of them come up and say --
JEFFREY: But -- but, wait a minute --
CARVILLE: Can I finish?
JEFFREY: Sure.
CARVILLE: -- that my faith is imperfect.
JEFFREY: But is it --
CARVILLE: And I think they would resent the hell out of that.
JEFFREY: Well, I --
CARVILLE: And I don't blame them.
JEFFREY: Well, I --
CARVILLE: And I don't think their faith is imperfect. In fact, I'm sort of in awe of their tradition.
JEFFREY: Hmm-mm. Do you think that you absolutely know for certain that Ann Coulter denigrated Judaism from what you saw in that clip there or what you read in a few transcripts? Are you certain about that?
CARVILLE: I don't know --
JEFFREY: You're morally certain about that, James?
CARVILLE: I don't know a single Jew that doesn't think that she said that their religion was imperfect. I don't know a single one, but if there is one, I'll be glad to hear from them.
JEFFREY: So, you've gone around discussing this with Jewish theologians and Christian theologians?
CARVILLE: Well, I've had Jewish friends call me. This may be a shock to you, but there actually are Jews that heard about this --
JEFFREY: Sure.
CARVILLE: -- that picked up the phone and says, “Can you believe what that woman said?” No, they do. It's caused a little stir in the community, as well.
BLITZER: And he did give her several opportunities -- Donny Deutsch -- who told her he's a practicing Jew and he was offended by what she said, but he did give her several opportunities to clarify, to amend, to revise, and she basically stuck with that line that Jews have to be perfected.
JEFFREY: Yeah, well, look, I can tell you what I believe. I am a Christian. My savior Jesus Christ was a Jew. I believe that Judaism is a great religion. I am not convinced from what I've seen that Ann Coulter has said anything wrong or anything that someone ought to attack her for, and let's see.
BLITZER: Let's leave -- let's leave it right there.