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 COULTER DECLARES 'SLANDER' IN COURIC 'TODAY' SHOW MATCH Wed Jun 26 2002 13:31:16 ET In the third (and typically least watched) hour of the TODAY SHOW on Wednesday, Katie Couric sat down with conservative author Ann Coulter to discuss her latest book, 'SLANDER'. The following is a rushed transcript of their heated exchange: Katie Couric: To a right-wing telebimbo but one thing Ann Coulter has not been called is underneath stated in her latest book slander, liberal lies about the American right the controversial author takes on big media, big government, and most of all liberals. Ann Coulter, good morning, nice to see you. Ann Coulter: Nice to see you. Katie Couric: So your main thesis, Ann, is that liberals really misrepresent conservatives and the conservative movement. Isn't that accurate? Ann Coulter: Yes, a little bit more than that, and that is that political debate, with liberals is basically impossible in America today because liberals are calling names while conservatives are trying to make arguments. And when every one of your arguments is characterized as an attempt to bring about slavery or resegregate lunch counters, it's a little hard to have any sort of productive debate. I mean I have no problem with invective, obviously. But the name of my book isn't invective, it's slander, and I think there ought to be a point to the invective. Katie Couric: What are some of the big liberal lies that are out there, in your estimation? Ann Coulter: I don't rank them, but -- Katie Couric: I'm not asking you to, either, but just tell me what you think they are. Ann Coulter: I would say it's really all the same lie, which is conservatives are either stupid or scarily weird and therefore you don't have to deal with their ideas, just set them aside. This is a crazy person, it's a Nazi, someone who wants to engage in racism, sexism, homophobia, so don't listen to that person's ideas, take a quote out of context and dismiss that idea, the idea that Ronald Reagan was stupid, which I document at great length in my book. I mean that is a stunning, stunning fact. The man, the (unintelligible) guy who won the Cold War war, he was demeaned and attacked as being stupid, meanwhile winning a second term, a spate of special interest articles on senility, and senility, growing senility, and how old Ronald, encroaching Senility, meanwhile (wordd)(unintelligible) liberal media asking that justice Thurgood Marshall or justice Brennan or Blackmon resigned, life and death issues from the Supreme Court. Katie Couric: I think I do have to bring up a section of the book where you talk specifically about me, and this is not where you call me the Eva Braun of liberalism, that makes me feel so much better, but you talk about the media bias against Ronald Reagan, and you useless a quote and open from The Today Show where we say an airhead, Ronald Reagan is an airhead and we're quoting Edmund Morris but frankly in the book you make it sound as if I was saying that rather than Edmond Morris and I guess one of your problems with even using that that he said he was an apparent airhead and we failed to say apparent airhead. And during the course of the interview with Edmond Morris I really conducted an extremely challenging interview with him because he did eviscerate Ronald Reagan in his book, it was a very, very unflattering portrayals of Reagan, they were very unhappy with it, conservatives were very unhappy with it. Afterwards Edmond Morris was unhappy with the interview and Nancy Reagan called to thank me for me line of questioning. So I'm just wondering how that jibes with your contention that somehow I'm a Ronald Reagan basher. Ann Coulter: Well, I didn't call you a Ronald Reagan basher. Katie Couric: Well, you used me as an example of liberal bias against Ronald Reagan, and I'm just curious why you took it so out of context. Ann Coulter: Well, I don't think I did. You're taking it out of context. Katie Couric: No, no. Ann Coulter: What I said was, which is true, that The Today Show opens, I believe it was three days in a row with the announcement, Ronald Reagan was an airhead, that's the conclusion of this new book by Edmond Morris, when Edmond Morris came on for that interview with you he described that as a grossly unfair characterization of his point. Katie Couric: Well, we should also point out, though -- Ann Coulter: The entire book was contradicting that, so when the author himself and George Bush, the vice president, was interviewed about this, also that that affs a grossly unfair characterization, whose characterization was it, it wasn't Edmond Morris -- Katie Couric: Well, actually he backpedaled considerably, if you would have read the book by Edmond Morris -- Ann Coulter: I didn't like the book -- Katie Couric: You called him an apparent airhead. You did call him an apparent airhead, I have the quote right here if you'd like me to read it. Ann Coulter: No, I read the quote and in it's in my book. Katie Couric: He said that young Ken Timmons, panting brace played occasional hookey from the White House speech writing department to help me build a chronology, and I was about to hire a full-time assistant, yes, it is the magic of Geneva had faded. Judge remained a history to and worst still that I entertained such heresy in the hushed and reverent precincts of his office an apparent airhead. So these are Edmond Morris -- Ann Coulter: It was also in his words when he came on your show, that that was a grossly unfair characterization, and that was at the beginning of the book, you said he described them as an apparent airhead on the very first meeting and that the entire course of the rest of his book was contradicting that, so for the today show to be opening three days in a row, Ronald Reagan was an airhead -- Katie Couric: It was one day. Ann Coulter: -- dishonest. Katie Couric: And also just for your information -- Ann Coulter: No you said it one day, Matt Lauer said it another day. Katie Couric: No, it was just one day and we'll get the transcript for you. Anyway he said commond Morris beyond mazement I was fressed by the relent finalities not to say incoherence of his interviews. I didn't really switch in the book but we don't want to get too hired -- Ann Coulter: This was not only solely not about this quote, it is not solely about the today show -- Katie Couric: Let's move on then and talk about it, let's just talk about the religious right, actually, since I'm conducting this interview, one of the things you say is the religious right is misrepresented by the liberal media, that it isn't some organization that has -- Katie Couric: Since I'm conducting this interview, one of the things you say is the religious right is misrepresented by the liberal media, that it isn't some organization that has club members, and that it's used to sort of freely buy liberals in the media. What do you mean by that? Can you elaborate? Because I think that's an interesting point. Ann Coulter: Well, it's more than the religious right is misrepresented. It's the idea that it's this Orwellian totemic symbol for people to hate, I mean you try to |
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