Right-wing pundit Ann Coulter appeared on CNN's Larry King Live following the third presidential debate. During the appearance, Coulter said it was “outrageous” that Senator John Kerry “wants affirmative action for women.” She then said, “Women? We're a majority. ... I mean, anyone who talks about affirmative action in terms of anything other than blacks is a racist.”
This was Coulter's second post-presidential debate appearance on CNN host Larry King's program, and her second appearance since the release of her new book, How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter (Crown Forum, October 2004). Coulter was invited back despite such recent statements as the following:
- In her October 13 syndicated column, published on her website the day she appeared on Larry King Live, Coulter wrote: “If Gore had been elected president, right now he would just be finding that last lesbian quadriplegic for the Special Forces team.”
- The day before Coulter's October 5 book release, Media Matters for America recounted some of the pundit's past insights, which included: [on the claim that terrorists want Kerry to win the presidential election] "I think it's true"; "Kerry will improve the economy in the emergency services and body bag industry"; and [on women] "We're not that bright."
MMFA has continued to document statements Coulter has made during her book tour appearances on both television and radio. In the last two weeks, Coulter has claimed Kerry wants "to restore Saddam"; labeled Democrats "jock-sniffers for war veterans" and "good Bolsheviks"; and said of talking to liberals, "I think a baseball bat is the most effective way these days."
In July, after commissioning Coulter to provide conservative commentary from the Democratic National Convention in Boston, USA Today reversed course and rejected her column. National Review Online fired Coulter in 2001 after she wrote -- two days after the September 11 attacks -- the following about “Muslim hijackers”: “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”