Defending his frequent guest, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter, from recent criticism over her latest attack on Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, Jon Caldara of Newsradio 850 KOA claimed that "[t]here's an organization called Media Matters" that “pull[s] things out of ... context” to make comments sound “outlandish.” Caldara made his assertion about Media Matters for America, Colorado Media Matters' parent organization, after reading from a June 27 article in The Hill. The article quoted a remark Coulter made on the June 25 edition of ABC's Good Morning America -- “If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot” -- without including the full context. Contrary to Caldara's assertion, however, Media Matters provided the full context of Coulter's comments and included a transcript of the entire interview in an item about Coulter's Good Morning America appearance.

As Media Matters noted, in a March 2 speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Coulter said she “can't really talk about” Edwards because “you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot.' ” Addressing her smear of Edwards on the June 25 edition of Good Morning America, Coulter stated that she “wouldn't insult gays by comparing them to John Edwards.” Coulter continued: “Now, that would be mean. But about the same time -- you know -- [HBO host] Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished [Vice President] Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack. So I've learned my lesson. If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot.”

Before playing audio of Coulter's Good Morning America appearance, Caldara stated that for Coulter “to say that she wishes that Edwards was killed in a terrorist assassination, well, that would be outlandish. But that's not what she said, is it?”

From the June 27 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Jon Caldara Show:

CALDARA: Let me again give you the, the story coming out of, out of The Hill. She's -- Mrs. Edwards -- pardon me as I tap dance while I find the right story. Here we go. [Reading] This week, Edwar -- or, this week, Coulter proclaimed on Good Morning America, quote, “If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot.”

Now, this, this is the kind of stuff that the left does often. There's an organization called Media Matters that nationally does this kind of stuff. What they do is pull things out of, out of context and they drop it so it sounds outlandish. And, of course, to say that she wishes that Edwards was killed in a terrorist assassination, well, that would be outlandish. But that's not what she said, is it? In full, in full, this is what she said:

[begin audio clip]

COULTER: -- talk about him, because you go into rehab for using that word.

CHRISTOPHER CUOMO (Good Morning America co-anchor): You say you were, you were joking.

COULTER: About the sec -- oh, yeah. I wouldn't, I wouldn't insult gays by comparing them to John Edwards. Now, that would be mean. But about the same time -- you know -- Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack.

[end audio clip]

CALDARA: All right, let me stop it right here. So, Bill Maher was not joking when he said he wished Cheney was dead in a terrorist attack. That's what she said. So, therefore:

[begin audio clip]

COULTER: So I've learned my lesson. If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot.

CUOMO: So, let's --

[end audio clip]

CALDARA: And why would she do that? Because that way the media wouldn't bother her. Now, I'm not saying we should give Ann Coulter off -- every break in the world here. No, no, no, no, no. Let me make it very clear. She's a big girl; she can handle herself. But to have newspapers and the left misquote that gives you an idea just how desperate they are.

In attacking “the left” and Media Matters specifically for purportedly taking quotes out of context, Caldara ignored the fact that Media Matters included Coulter's reference to Maher's statement about Cheney. According to Media Matters' June 25 item:

Good Morning America co-anchor Chris Cuomo asked Coulter if the fact that “the three top [Republican] candidates” denounced her remark about Edwards was "[f]air criticism of you or a shift towards the tolerant among the GOP." Coulter answered: “No, no. ... I was denounced all over.” She went on to add:

COULTER: Though about the same time Bill Maher said -- and by the way I did not call John Edwards the “F” word. I said I couldn't talk about him because you go into rehab for using that word.

When Cuomo responded: “You say -- you were joking,” Coulter said:

COULTER: Oh yeah, I wouldn't insult gays by comparing them to John Edwards. That would be mean, but about the same time -- you know -- Bill Maher was not joking and saying he wished [Vice President] Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack. So I've learned my lesson. If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he has been killed in a terrorist assassination plot.

As Media Matters noted, Coulter's claim that Maher said “he wished Dick Cheney had been killed in a terrorist attack” is a reference to a statement on the March 2, 2007, edition of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher. During a discussion of comments deleted from a Huffington Post weblog entry regarding Cheney's proximity to a suicide bomb attack in February in Afghanistan, Maher claimed to be “quot[ing]” when he said, “But I have zero doubt that if Dick Cheney was not in power, people wouldn't be dying needlessly tomorrow.” Maher later went on to say, “I'm just saying that if he did die -- other people -- more people would live. That's a fact.”

In addition to the excerpts of Coulter's interview noted above, Media Matters included the full video and transcript of the entire interview, further contradicting Caldara's claim that the organization “pull[s] things out of ... context and they drop it so it sounds outlandish.”

As Colorado Media Matters pointed out, Caldara previously defended Coulter's attack on Edwards as a “faggot” by claiming that the epithet was “a joke that just didn't have a solid point of reference.” On a later broadcast of his show, Caldara and Coulter joked about her homophobic slurs, with Caldara saying, “If I got a dollar for every time she [Coulter] called me a 'faggot' I'd be one rich man.”