Chris Matthews Sandbags Ann Coulter With Live Call-In From Elizabeth Edwards

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Chris Matthews Sandbags Ann Coulter With Live Call-In From Elizabeth Edwards Posted by Geoffrey Dickens on June 26, 2007 - 19:26.

On tonight's Hardball, MSNBC's Chris Matthews blind-sided his guest, conservative columnist Ann Coulter, with a live call from Elizabeth Edwards. The wife of presidential candidate John Edwards, proceeded to demand Coulter to stop her "personal attacks" on her husband, but Coulter shot back that at least she wasn't "bankrupting doctors by giving a shyster, Las Vegas routine."

The following is the full transcript of the exchange as it occurred on the June 26th edition of Hardball:

Chris Matthews: "You know who's on the line? Somebody to respond to what you said about Edwards, yesterday morning, Elizabeth Edwards. She wanted to call in today, we said she could. Elizabeth Edwards go on the line, you're on the line with Ann Coulter."

Elizabeth Edwards: "Hello Chris."

Matthews: "Do you want to say something directly to the person who's with me?"

Edwards: "I was calling, you know, in the South when we, when someone does something that displeases us we want to ask them, politely, to stop doing it. I'd like to ask Ann Coulter to, if she wants to debate on issues, on positions, we certainly disagree with nearly everything she said on your show today. But, but it's quite another matter, to, for these personal attacks. The things she has said over the years, not just about John but about other candidates is, lowers our, our political dialogue, precisely at the time we need to raise it. So I want to use the opportunity, which I don't get much, because Ann and I don't hang out with the same people."

Coulter: "I don't have enough money."

Edwards: "To ask her, politely, to stop the personal attacks."

Coulter: "Okay so I made a joke, let's see, six months ago, and as you point out, they've been raising money off of it, for six months, since then."

Matthews: "But this is just yesterday morning, what you said about him."

Coulter: "I didn't say anything about him, actually, either time."

Edwards: "Ann, Ann you know that's not true. And, and once more, this has been going on for some time."

Coulter: "I don't mind you trying to raise money. I mean it's better this than giving $50,000 speeches to the poor-"

Edwards: "I'm asking you-"

Coulter: "-just to use-

Edwards: "I'm asking you, politely-"

Coulter: "-my name on the Web pages. But as for a debate with me, yeah sure. Yeah we'll have a debate."

Edwards: "I'm asking you, politely, to stop, to stop personal attacks..."

Coulter: "How about you stop raising money on your Web page then? No, you don't have to because, I don't mind."

Edwards: "It didn't start, it did not, it didn't start, it did not start with that. You had a column a number of years ago where you suggested-"

Coulter: "Okay the wife of a presidential candidate-"

Edwards: "Wait till I finish talking please."

Coulter: "-who's calling in and asking me to stop speaking?"

Matthews: "Let her finish the point, let her finish the point."

Coulter: "You're asking me to stop speaking. ‘Stop writing your columns. Stop writing your books.'"

Edwards: "You had a column, you wrote a column several years ago-"

Matthews: "Ann, please."

Coulter: "Okay."

Edwards: "Which made, which made fun of the moment of Charlie Dean's death and suggested that my husband had a bumper sticker on the back of his car that said, ‘Ask me about my dead son.'"

Coulter: "That's now three years ago."

Edwards: "This is not legitimate political dialogue. It debases political dialogue. It draws people away from the process. We can't have a debate about issues if you're using this kind of language."

Coulter responding to audience member: "Yeah why isn't John Edwards making this call?"

Matthews: "Well do you want to respond, while I end this conversation?"

Edwards: "I, I haven't talked to John about this call."

Coulter: "This is just another attempt for-"

Edwards: "I am making this call as a mother. I am, I'm the mother of that boy who died. I, my children participate. These young people behind you are the age of my children, particularly, you're asking them to participate in a dialogue that's based on, on hatefulness and ugliness instead of on the issues and I don't, I don't think that's serving them or this country very well."

[applause]

Matthews: "Thank you very much, Elizabeth Edwards. Well do you, you have all the time in the world to respond to that."

Coulter: "I think, I think we heard all we need to hear. The wife of a presidential candidate is asking me to stop speaking. No."

Matthews: "No, she said you should stop being so negative to people, individually."

Coulter: "Right, as opposed to bankrupting doctors by giving a shyster, Las Vegas routine-"

Matthews: "Okay."

Coulter: "-in front of juries based on science. Wait, you said I'd have as long I would have-"

Matthews: "Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead."

Coulter: "-and you instantly interrupted me. As I was saying, doing these psychic routines in front of illiterate juries to bankrupt doctors, who now can't deliver babies. And to charge a, a poverty group $50,000 for a speech. Don't talk to me about, about how to use language."

Matthews: "Elizabeth?"

Coulter: "That language of hate. And I'm, I, I'm gonna ask you, again, to politely stop using personal attacks as part of your dialogue."

Coulter: "Okay, I'll stop writing books."

Matthews: "Why do you talk about-"

Edwards: "If you can't write them, without them, then that's fine."

Matthews: "Why do talk about Hillary's chubby legs in your book?"

[laughter from audience]

Matthews: "Why do you, I mean, that, that might fall under the category of personal attacks, I don't know, but why do you do that? Why do you talk about Monica Lewinsky's chubbiness? If she were skinny would it had been okay?"

Coulter: "I don't know, read the sentence."

Matthews: "I read the whole sentence, I couldn't feel the context."

Coulter: "Well you have to give it to me and I could explain."

Matthews: "Why do you bring up the word, ‘chubby?' Why do you make fun of Hillary's chubby legs?"

Coulter: "I, I don't know, you're going to have to give me the sentence. And I think-"

Matthews: "It's in the afterward of your book, I just read it this morning."

Coulter: "Well read the sentence!"

Matthews: "We'll, we'll be back and read the entire sentence. We're gonna come right back, I don't know why we're reading, the full intellectual context will be coming in a moment."

Coulter: "Thank you."

[CaptainK]

It was surprising to hear Matthews come out against the Amnesty bill in his conversation with Ann.

That was surprising. I attribute it to his hatred of Bush.

[Enchante]

Anyone associated with the Breck Girl, or the Clintonistas, or Albore, or Jon Cary, Ted Kennedy, or ANY of the prominent national Demagogues..... should not DARE to criticize anyone else, ever, about personal attacks, etc. Edwards, Bore, Kerry, the Clintons, Reid and Pelosi, etc...... we have seen a veritable SEWER of hateful speech and writings pour forth from these charlatans.

Btw, Ann should have forced Elizabeth Edwards to confront the appalling anecdote in the book by Robt. Shrum (leading DEMAGOGUE consultant) about how the Breck Girl made Kerry soooo uncomfortable by using the death of his son in a completely politicized and dishonest way. The Breck Girl told Jon Cary in hushed, tearful terms about how he had never told the story to anyone, anyone, but when standing by his son’s coffin he’d resolved to be a great Demagogue politician, etc. etc. Well it turned out that this sensitive personal anecdote, which Edwards had never revealed to ANYONE before, had been related to Jon Cary previously..... by Edwards himself. Jon Cary was so creeped out by this fraudulent performance that he almost decided not to choose the Silky Pony for the ticket. If you can creep out Jon Cary with insincerity and hypocrisy you’re really beyond the pale.....

[misterrob]

A true Democrat of the olden days would not want it because of its impact on labor.

[acoulterfan]

WHY in the world do conservatives go on Chris Matthews Show? Can someone tell me WHY?

[YaYa123]

cheap shot sandbag by Chris, and Ann didn’t even flinch. GREAT TV!!!!!

I’m surprised Ann and crowd weren’t offended when Chris insulted them by saying they were from “Deliverance”.

[Irish Queen]

Since John Edwards is such a calculating person, who has made his multi-millions by manipulating emotions of gullible people to win personal injury suits, I can’t help but think this call from Elizabeth Edwards is something out of Mr. Edwards’ playbook. It’s really pitiful when a man feels the need to hide behind his wife and children.

[Wil H]

Has Ms. Breck Girl spent all her sympathy capital yet?

Pretty much, she just has enough left for a couple of haircuts for John..

[bvw]

Jeesh, Elizabeth Edwards is hot damn creepy. Does she remember she has two living children to care for?

[Bahbah]

When it comes to the Edwards family, the wife is much worse than the husband. She is about as sweet as a python.

[Vision]

More people die daily in America than watch his show.

400,000 people die in America every day?

[Doc Savage]

One look at she-man grooming his hair video and you would have to believe that this woman has followed this feminine pipsqueak around with a mirror for her entire life! Look, take your filthy rich ill-begotten trillions and just shut up you bubble-headed Carolina hag!

[Uncle Hal]

Has not Mathews ever heard of satire? Lighten up. Its comedy.

[Enchante]

MSNBC HARDBALL 397,000

---

Hee hee, pitiful, I knew they must be desperate if they were willing to let Chrissy go up against Ann Coulter.

If Chrissy Matthews’ brain falls splat in the woods and there’s no one left around to hear it, does it make a sound??

Last PMSNBC producer to leave the dying studio, please turn out the lights.........

[SirJohnBarleycorn]

You’re right, but I would have guessed that he would have followed the liberal Catholic church line on this, which is basically open borders.

[Radix]

The girly man candidate sends out his trophy(?) wife to fight his battles.....

What a chump he is, and what a sucker she is......

Hey Ann, you go girl!

[The Coopster]

I don’t know about out gunned. She just got shouted down.

Coulter is boorish and rude. A black and white transcript merely makes it more glaring.

She has absolutely nothing productive to offer - only catty comments, and self-absorbed rants.

Her mindset is no more reasoned than that of Al Franken or Bill Maher, and is a great deal of what is wrong with American Politics today - a bunch of idiots who are more concerned with painting the “other side” as stupid or evil instead of recognizing that we’re all grownups and are all supposed to be accomplishing something productive.

If companies ran the way American politics did, they’d go belly-up in no time. It’s shameful, and ridiculous, and it doesn’t do this country one bit of good, no matter how someone like this wants to thump their chest and proclaim it “patriotism”.

[Freee-dame]

anyone think the left lobs personal attacks at GW?

One of them is that GW speaks poorly. I would like to see someone try to diagram that long paragraph of Mrs. Edwards. Talk about rambling....

[GFritsch]

The ambulance chaser’s wife couldn’t debate Daffy Duck.

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

I was wondering the same thing.

[Hoodat]

"We'll, we'll be back and read the entire sentence.

So did he ever read the entire sentence? Or did he simply make it up as a personal attack on Coulter's character?