“Eagle” Eye: “TV’s Andy Levy” Nails Ann Coulter

Coulter’s Reagan slips: “Demonic” or ignorant? Oops! Conservative author and Mitt Romney backer Ann Coulter may be able to get away with GOP misinformation, artful or inadvertent, with Fox & Friends co-hosts Brian Kilmeade, Steve Doocy, and Gretchen Carlson but not with Red Eye‘s ombudsman “TV’s Andy Levy.” Rather, Levy nailed Coulter today and she knew it.

Three days ago, Coulter told the credulous F&F co-anchors that Ronald Reagan pulled out of his losing (1976) GOP Presidential campaign early a la Mitt Romney in 2008:* And, she indicated that Rick Santorum should follow suit now. Only problem: Ronald Reagan took his bid to the GOP convention where he narrowly lost on the first vote in a hard-fought floor fight.

Today, Coulter iterated her F&F argument to Red Eye anchor Greg Gutfeld, sidekick Bill Schulz, and RE panelists. Unfortunately, for Coulter, RE‘s fact checker Levy was listening. During Levy’s “Halftime Report,” he asked Coulter about Reagan’s taking his bid all the way to the convention.** Looking dumbfounded, Coulter obfuscated: Instead of vainly defending her erroneous assertion, she muttered that Reagan had convinced a conservative group (CPAC) not to back a third-party candidate and had campaigned for President Ford (and that Romney had exited early). Fortunately, for Coulter, Levy merely pressed her a mite more and compassionately moved on.

Catching Ann Coulter’s Reagan gaffes? Brickbats for Brian, Steve, and Gretch. But, bravo, Andy!

*Fox & Friends – 04/02/12 (@ 3:13 into Fox News Insider vid)

**Red Eye – 04/05/12 (@ 3:35 a.m. ET)

Update: For Red Eye “Halftime Report vid, link here.

Coulter Scratches McCain

Rowrr! Yes, it finally happened: Ann Coulter belatedly clawed Meghan McCain back early this morning on Red Eye. It was a joke but it hit its mark with cat-like precision (based on the reaction of her fellow panelists).

Almost nine months ago to the day, Meghan McCain penned her Daily Beast column entitled “My Beef with Ann Coulter.” She wrote, “I find her [Coulter] offensive, radical, insulting, and confusing all at the same time….I don’t like her demeanor. I have never been a person who was attracted to hate or negativity.” Not holding her fire, McCain added, “Everything about her is extreme: her voice, her interview tactics, and especially the public statements she makes about liberals.”

When Coulter did not immediately go after her, McCain appreciatively remarked, “At this point, I have more respect for Ann Coulter than I do for Laura Ingraham because at least Coulter didn’t come back at me with heartless, substance-less attacks about my weight.” (For a less-than-conservative characterization of Ingraham’s remarks, cf. this ThinkProgress.org link.)

On Red Eye today, Coulter returned as a guest commentator. During a segment on Tiger Wood’s continuing saga, host Greg Gutfeld played a Today clip of Jamie Jungers who claims to have had an eight-month relationship with the golfing great. After viewing footage of the cute chubby blond, Coulter jested, “Wait! Meghan McCain had an affair with Tiger Woods?”

Gutfeld and his sidekick Bill Shultz roared with laughter. Even liberal guest, professor Marc Lamont Hill of Columbia seemed to join in the merriment. Shultz laughed, “I hope I register my disgust in that two-shot, Greg. Ooh!” Gutfeld joked, “How did she have the time between Twittering?”

In the author’s view, Jungers does seem to bear a resemblance to McCain and Red Eye is a politically incorrect free-for-all. Ergo, Coulter may have waited for the perfect time to scratch back at her GOP antagonist without any blowback.

Ann Coulter: We Look Fantastic Naked!

Geraldo at Large guest Ann Coulter tantalized her conservative fans by baring a little of her libertine side tonight. During a segment on ESPN reporter Erin Andrews who had denied to Oprah that she had staged the “Peeping Tom” video, host Geraldo Rivera aired a portion of the interview. As it ran, Ann whispered a racy aside to fellow guest Kimberly Guilfoyle.

After the footage had run, Geraldo told Kimberly that it was “clearly an inside job.” Kimberly responded, “But that doesn’t mean that she staged it.” Then she gratuitously added, “What Ann and I were talking. Go ahead and say it, Ann.” Chuckling, Ann replied, “No. That was a hot mike.” However, Kimberly could not keep that delicious tidbit from the audience: She disclosed, “No, she said, ‘I think we, too, would look pretty good walking around naked, too.’”

Defending her risque remark, Ann stated, “Well, Oprah just challenged it, saying, ‘Nobody looks that good walking around naked.’ And, I said, ‘We look fantastic naked!’”* Amused, a grinning Geraldo interjected, “Oh, my dear! How did we get here?” Kimberly answered, “I don’t know!” Laughing, Ann riposted, “It’s your topic!”

Tempting viewers with thoughts of herself and Kimberly nude, the conservative siren sure knows how to bring errant sailors ashore.

Geraldo at Large – 09/12/09 (@10:54 p.m. ET)

O’Reilly: “Creepy” Ann Coulter?

O’Reilly’s subliminal message? During the O’Reilly Factor introductory previews,* a strange thing occurred. First, former Clinton advisor and ABC’s This Week host George Stephanopoulos was shown in color opining favorably about President Obama’s speech in a segment named “Critical Mass.” Offering her contrary view, conservative author and columnist appeared similarly in color but over a chyron entitled, “Conservative Commentary”: However, after she said, “I did expect Americans to turn against the socialist program of Obama,” the screen above the colored Factor banner turned ominously black and white and the camera zoomed in close as if to signal her scary essence.

Was O’Reilly sending a subtle signal to his more liberal viewers?

*O’Reilly Factor – 09/10/09 (@8:00 p.m. ET)

Meghan McCain: Miss McBeef?

Is Meghan McCain confused? Did she think that Ann Coulter dissed her vis-a-vis Laura Ingraham? Just a mere six days after Ingraham unloaded on the Daily Beast blogger and her dad, Meghan wrote “My Beef with Ann Coulter.”*

The very day after Meghan complained that her Dad’s failed candidacy had ruined her social life,** Ingraham, in an interview with Fox & Friends, declared, “I think maybe she [Meghan] should just stop writing insipid blogs and just focus on something positive. These people who are constantly whining about things that don’t matter: Go out and volunteer. I’m sure that you’ll find some nice people to date.”*** Last night FNC’s king of cable Bill O’Reilly remarked that he did not know what had started the one-sided feud with Ann Coulter. Today Fox & Friends co-hosts, Alisyn Camerota, Steve Doocy, and Brian Kilmeade elicited no further elucidation in their interview with the flaxen-tressed daughter of John McCain.

Not only does the timing of Meghan’s attacks on Coulter seems to indicate that she has the wrong woman in her sights but also the personal nature appears to reflect that to boot. Meghan decried Coulter as “offensive, radical, insulting” and one who “could be the poster woman for the most extreme side of the Republican Party.”* Not to mention, on F&F today she carped that Coulter had not answered her twenty-question quiz.

Meghan, did you mistake Coulter for Ingraham? Or are you aping Ron Reagan?

*http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-03-09/my-beef-with-ann-coulter/2/
**http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-03-02/looking-for-mr-far-right/
***http://jakeho.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/meghan-mccain-mocked/

Morris Muffles Coulter

Unfortunately, Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Clayton Morris rescued conservative babe and Guilty author, Ann Coulter, from herself today. As Clayton and co-anchor Ainsley Earhardt promoted an upcoming Rihanna/Chris Brown segment, Ann could be distinctly heard in the background as she chatted with weatherguy Rick Reichmuth.

After hearing Ann clearly state, “We’ll, we used to be friends,” a quick-thinking Clayton, looking back at the camera, strode toward Ann and louded asked, “Do you hear that voice back there? It’s the unmistakable voice of Ann Coulter.” When a red-faced Ann realized her error, she exclaimed “Oops!” as she placed her hand over mouth. Recovering, she smiled broadly and waved to the viewer as Rick merely grinned abashedly.

After Ann’s subsequent segment and the co-hosts’ segue to him, Rick teased, “I know what she was saying, too, when her microphone wasn’t on.” Embarrassed, Ann rocked back on the curvy couch and teheed. Clayton replied, “Don’t say it.” Rick responded, “Just saying but I’m not going to say it.” Co-anchor Dave Briggs cautioned, “Shhh!”

Bouquets, Clayton, from Ann and the F&FW producers but brickbats from your F&F fans.

Ann Coulter: Bill O’Reilly Overbearing, Chauvinistic, Humorless

Conservative columnist and best-selling author Ann Coulter gave Bill O’Reilly no quarter last night on his show, the O’Reilly Factor, as she promoted her book, Guilty: Liberal “Victims” and Their Assault on America. After her contentious interview earlier in the day with Matt Lauer on the Today show (which had been “rescheduled” after Matt Drudge indicated that Coulter had been cancelled and had been “banned for life”*), she was in no mood to be lectured by O’Reilly. After asking her if she were an intentional bomb thrower and saying that she was sometimes shrill, Coulter countered, “You are…overbearing, chauvinistic, humorless.” O’Reilly drily replied, “I agree with all of those things.”

At the end of the interview, O’Reilly riled Coulter further when he said, “Bernie Goldberg has some advice for you.” Coulter laughed and sniped, “My general policy is to take advice from people who sell more books than I do not fewer books than I do.” O’Reilly cockily riposted, “Then you would take advice from me then?”  Coulter quickly answered, “No, no. I said more books.” O’Reilly declared, “Yeah, I sell more books than you.” Uncowed, Coulter responded, “No, you don’t.” Then in almost a school playground exchange, O’Reilly said, “Yes, I do” and Coulter retorted, “No, you don’t.”

As O’Reilly concluded the segment, he said that he liked her book but that he thought that she had made it provocative on purpose to sell books. When he closed the show, he remarked, “No mail this evening because we gave Ann Coulter a little extra time. Do you think that she appreciates that?”

Reciprocal respect, maybe: mutual fondness, perhaps, not.

*http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/nbc/coulter_on_nbc_i_am_very_happy_to_be_here_105081.asp

Coulter v. Rivera Bombs

Before the face-off between Ann Coulter and Geraldo Rivera today on Fox & Friends, Gretchen Carlson hyped it as a must-see fireworks extravaganza. However, the dueling duo’s polemic turned out to be an absolute dud. From the beginning, Geraldo did not seem to cotton to his platinum blonde debate partner as a worthy opponent: He made his points and tended to ignore Ann’s arguments.

To make matters worse, during the middle of the discussion, Steve Doocy re-positioned himself as a buffer between Geraldo and Ann and Peter Johnson, Jr., interrupted the contentious colloquy with his incessant questions to Geraldo. Only when Ann “shushed” Peter Johnson, Jr. was she able to actually engage Geraldo. Even then he soon drifted off topic and returned to his dismissive disputation.

Ann v. Geraldo: No mas!