Ann Coulter Speaks to GW Amid Controversy

Famed conservative political and social commentator Ann Coulter, best known for her outspoken conservatism and frequent political incorrectness, visited George Washington University Wednesday where she spoke in Funger Hall at the invitation of the GW Young America’s Foundation and GW College Republicans. The crowd, which failed to fill the lecture hall, consisted primarily of members of the College Republicans and Young America’s Foundation.

Coulter began by addressing the issue of raising taxes on the wealthy.  Stating that the effects of tax increases are counter-productive and actually lead to decreases in government net revenue, she further declared that Democrats in the U.S. Congress and President Obama support raising taxes on the wealthy not for the benefit of the poor, but to for the sole benefit of the U.S. government.

After her early statements regarding fiscal policy, however, Coulter’s remarks quickly became controversial. Combining a series jokes with more serious remarks, Coulter drew laughter from the audience as she addressed topics ranging from health care reform to foreign policy.

On the issue of U.S. health care policy, Coulter noted that President Obama “is a moderate-in Kenya,” further claiming that the U.S. government “can’t keep Mexicans out of Laredo, but it can keep a State farm agent out of Ohio."

Coulter delivered biting criticisms of Presidents Obama and Clinton’s foreign policies. Arguing against Clinton’s decision in 1999 to intervene in Yugoslavia, the pundit cited reports that Serbian president Slobidon Milosevic “only” killed several thousand people, leading her to claim that the Yugoslav intervention not only failed to serve U.S. interests but had little humanitarian basis.

Coulter then criticized U.S. intervention in Egypt and Libya, arguing that as the Qaddafi regime had already agreed not to pursue nuclear weapons program, the current intervention again did not address American interests in the region. When asked how she would cut the U.S. Defense budget, she advocated an immediate end to U.S. military involvement in Libya, Egypt, and Afghanistan, engagements she attributed to President Obama's desire to meet talking points from the 2008 campaign.

Coulter further declared that over the past fifty years Democrats had lost “countries, entire continents, to communism.”

When asked about Donald Trump’s recent surge in the Republican primary polls, she called him “a clown,” among other things, criticizing him for supporting Democratic policies in the past and advancing the argument that president Obama may not have been born in the United States. Despite this, she said she would still vote for Trump if he won the Republican nomination and the election were between him and President Obama. Coulter also said she would consider supporting a third party candidate if a Trump-Obama race were to occur.

The most dramatic moment of the event came when openly homosexual GW Undergraduate Phil Ryan told Coulter he had a boyfriend, and then asked why she opposed him having the same rights as everyone else to marry. Coulter responded that he in fact had the right to marry - “a girl”- and delivered a long statement highlighting perceived attacks by liberals on the institution of marriage and the American family. She concluded by telling the student, “Oh well, life’s not fair.” Ryan, who was visibly shaken after the exchange with Coulter, later told reporters that Ms. Coulter’s answers were “worthless,” and that he believes she is “prejudiced” against the gay community and himself. However, he found the support given to Ms. Coulter by many in attendance worrying.

Coulter elicited numerous gasps from the audience during her response to a question regarding atheists running for the presidency. Having stated earlier in the talk that U.S. Ambassador John Huntsman's Mormon faith would present "a problem" in a run for the presidency, Coulter then responded that she would "even trust a Mormon first" over an atheist.