On the March 5 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann awarded right-wing pundit Ann Coulter “the gold” in the “Worst Person in the World” segment for "[c]alling John Edwards" a “faggot.” As Media Matters for America documented, during her March 2 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Coulter said she “can't really talk about” Edwards, a Democratic presidential candidate and former senator, because “you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot.' ”

Additionally, Olbermann named syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh “Worst Person” runner-up for, as Media Matters noted, stating that, since ancestors of Rev. Al Sharpton were slaves and ancestors of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) were slaveowners, “could we not say that if Obama wins the Democratic nomination and then wins the presidency, he will own Al Sharpton?”

From the March 5 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: Thank you, Amy. Couldn't resist this trio. I'm just sorry there could not be golds for all of them. The bronze to Newt Gingrich, visiting us briefly in this dimension to blame the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on a, quote, “failure of citizenship in the Ninth Ward, where 22,000 people were so uneducated and so unprepared they literally couldn't get out of the way of a hurricane.” Yeah, Newt, all that education sure helped the Bush administration shine after the hurricane.

The bronze [sic: runner-up], comedian Rush Limbaugh, pointing out that since ancestors of Al Sharpton were slaves and ancestors of Senator Barack Obama were slaveowners, quoting again, “could we not say that if Obama wins the Democratic nomination and then wins the presidency, he will own Al Sharpton?” No, actually, we couldn't say that. But we could say that any lingering doubt about this is at an end: Rush Limbaugh is a racist.

But the gold, of course, to Coultergeist. Calling John Edwards that name. I mean, Annie, just because you're more mannish-looking? Hell, you're more mannish looking than every man on the planet. Coultergeist, today's “Worst Person in the World”!