On the August 31 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, right-wing pundit Ann Coulter attempted to differentiate her suggestion in High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton (Regnery, 1998) that the issue was “whether to impeach or assassinate” former President Bill Clinton, from the plot of Death of a President (Borough Films), an upcoming film that dramatically portrays the assassination of President Bush. Co-host Alan Colmes challenged Coulter, asking: “I guess it's OK to joke about assassinating a president, but it's not OK to represent it in a dramatic presentation, right?” In response, Coulter asserted that her suggestion came in the context of a description of “the entire history of impeachment, which we got from the British. I explained how we changed it here in America. In Britain ... one of the punishments [for impeachment] was hanging.”

Additionally, co-host Sean Hannity told Douglas Schoen, chairman of the communications firm Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates: "[I]n all seriousness, it drives you [liberals] crazy when we talk about being weak on defense, you're appeasers, the NSA program [warrantless domestic wiretapping by the National Security Agency] you don't want, the Patriot Act program you don't want, data mining you don't want." Colmes responded:

You know, I'm tired of hearing that the Democrats don't want the NSA and don't want data mining. They want to do it with warrants. They want to do it constitutionally. The Democrats have never said they don't want that stuff.

Weak on security, when we're not protect our ports, not protecting our borders. The president wants to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants. And how can you say that it's Democrats that are weak on security?

According to the Los Angeles Times, Death of a President will use “archival footage and computer-generated special effects to portray the fictional assassination of President George W. Bush.”

Later in the segment, before allowing Schoen to continue a thought after Coulter had spoken, Colmes said, “I don't want her to take her mike off,” perhaps referring to an incident on the August 24 edition of Hannity & Colmes in which, as Media Matters for America noted, Coulter unexpectedly ended her participation in the segment after being challenged by guest host Kirsten Powers, a Fox News political analyst.

From the August 31 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

HANNITY: Doug, let me tell you -- you know what? The one thing that drives you fellow libs crazy? Although you're not a real liberal.

SCHOEN: I'm a centrist, please.

HANNITY: All right, you're all right, you're not as bad as Alan. Just kidding. It's a joke.

But in all seriousness, it drives you crazy when we talk about being weak on defense, you're appeasers, the NSA program you don't want, the Patriot Act program you don't want, data mining you don't want. You want to close Guantánamo Bay. I think that's weak on the most important issue of our time: our national security. I think the Republicans, if they get that message out, and the president started that today, we will win.

SCHOEN: And I think you're wrong, Sean. And I think you're wrong because the American people see Iraq, which is in the throes of the insurgency and a civil war, Afghanistan, which is plagued by the Taliban taking power in the south, North Korea and Iran both moving towards nuclear programs.

HANNITY: Thanks to Bill Clinton.

SCHOEN: We are less -- we are less secure because of the Bush administration. That's what people are going to vote on.

COLMES: We only have a moment here. You know, I'm tired of hearing that the Democrats don't want the NSA and don't want data mining. They want to do it with warrants. They want to do it constitutionally. The Democrats have never said they don't want that stuff.

Weak on security, when we're not protect our ports, not protecting our borders. The president wants to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants. And how can you say that it's Democrats that are weak on security?

But I want to talk to you about this, this movie.

COULTER: Right.

COLMES: Nobody is going to support a movie where you have the president assassinated. But you're the person who said on Clinton, “The only issue is whether to impeach or assassinate.” So, Ann, I guess it's OK to joke about assassinating a president, but it's not OK to represent it in a dramatic presentation, right?

COULTER: I always feel like I'm explaining, “Why is a raisin not like an elephant?” to Democrats. Yes, these are different.

SCHOEN: Look, Hillary Clinton --

COULTER: Yes, these are different.

COLMES: Wait, let me get Ann's answer on this.

SCHOEN: Sure.

COLMES: I mean, you joke about assassinating Clinton, that's OK?

COULTER: It wasn't -- I -- OK, I will explain this to anyone who is incapable of reading --

COLMES: That was the joke you made.

COULTER: -- i.e. liberals. In my book, High Crimes and Misdemeanors, describing the entire history of impeachment, which we got from the British. I explained how we changed it here in America. In Britain, it was a criminal punishment. You would be -- one of the punishments was hanging. Here it was purely losing your office. At the end of this, I said, you know, something about the effect --

COLMES: You said the only issue is whether to impeach or assassinate Bill Clinton.

SCHOEN: What we need in our politics is bringing people together, ending the kind of division --

COULTER: No, the only question wouldn't be, if we were a decent country.

COLMES: Let Ann talk, and then I'll give you a chance to respond.

SCHOEN: OK.

HANNITY: Let her finish this thought. Go ahead.

COULTER: Right. It's always right at the conclusion.

COLMES: Please, let her respond.

COULTER: I said the only question, if we were a decent country or something to that effect, would be whether to impeach or assassinate, not whether to impeach or not, comparing the British and the American systems.

COLMES: All right, let me --

HANNITY: Context.

COULTER: Come on, that isn't a movie.

COLMES: See I want her to answer, I don't want her to take her mike off. But go ahead, Doug.