Following right-wing pundits' serial "diagnoses" of former Vice President Al Gore as mentally ill (in the wake of Gore's May 26 speech about the Bush administration's Iraq policy), FOX News Channel co-host Sean Hannity and his June 14 guest, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter, once again purported to assess Gore's psychiatric state -- with Coulter then extending that assessment to Senator John Kerry. Hannity said Gore was “coming unhinged”; and Coulter repeatedly called Gore “nuts,” adding that “Bill Clinton drove him [Gore] to this.” Coulter also said Kerry “is as crazy as their [Democrats] last presidential candidate [Gore] was.”

From the June 14 edition of FOX News Channel's Hannity & Colmes, co-hosted by Hannity and by Alan Colmes:

HANNITY: This man [Gore] has become an extremist, he's out of touch, he seems to be coming unhinged.

[...]

COULTER: Kerry has all these nuts coming out. I think Al Gore is nuts, and I think it would have been polite if you guys [Democrats] had told us that before you ran him for president.

[...]

COULTER: I can understand that Bill Clinton drove him [Gore] to this. At least he has a defense -- “I was in the White House with Bill Clinton, give me a break, I'm nuts.”

[...]

COLMES: We [Democrats] are a big tent party. Not every Democrat walks in lockstep, or follows the talking points, or has the same style or says exactly the same thing.

COULTER: A big tent, so you're wrapping up the nut vote.

[...]

COULTER: The question I really want to know is when they [Democrats] will admit that their current presidential candidate [Kerry] is as crazy as their last presidential candidate [Gore] was?