Ann Coulter Thinks She’s Funny, But It’s No Laughing Matter

Ann Coulter may love comedy more than she hates liberals. I know this because, back in the early months of 2001, we were friends.

We met in a private internet community called “The Stump,” launched in 2000 by Jay Kogen, an Emmy-winning writer for a Frasier episode. The Stump had TV comedy writers and funny actors. It was a lively conversation space, and when Coulter joined, some members were less than welcoming to the outspoken conservative. However, I had read her book, High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton, and found some of her points agreeable. To paraphrase Lou Grant, I like brash.

Coulter didn’t stay on The Stump long, so I reached out to her. We became AOL Instant Messaging buddies for three reasons: she liked my work on Letterman, The Simpsons, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch; she was a night owl with her East Coast 2 a.m. being my West Coast 11 p.m.; and I shared a first name with her mother.

Our online chats in the spring of 2001 were mainly about writing and boys. Coulter was single and looking to date, even telling me about a make-out session she had with a writer from The New York Times. But our budding friendship never fully developed. In September, al-Qaeda terrorists from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Egypt hijacked planes and flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. We were all emotional about this terrifying and deadly attack, but Coulter’s response was extreme.

“We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity,” she wrote in a National Review Online column titled, “This is War.”

That seemed to be a turning point for Coulter. I stopped our chats as I could not find her extreme views endearing. Nevertheless, many people did. Making outrageous and often violent statements quickly became Coulter’s signature move.

Despite her controversial statements, Coulter believed comedy was her domain. In her 2018 book Resistance is Futile!, she thanks three comedy writers in her acknowledgments: Melanie Graham, who she joked was addicted to all things related to Coulter; Ned Rice, who wrote for several notable comedians but whose input Coulter claimed she never needed; and stand-up comedian Rodney Lee Conover.

Her desire to be close to funny people explains why she agreed to participate in Rob Lowe’s 2016 Comedy Central Roast. Coulter was roasted with vicious jokes. Nikki Glaser quipped, “Ann Coulter has written 11 books—12 if you count Mein Kampf.” Pete Davidson added, “Last year we had Martha Stewart, who sells sheets, and this year we have Ann Coulter, who cuts eye-holes in them.” Even singer Jewel expressed delight in the insults hurled at Coulter.

When Coulter got to the podium, she had her chance to retaliate but instead made awkward jokes like, “I’m hoping to persuade you all to vote for Trump, but most of all I want you [to vote], David.” She pointed at host David Spade and made a racist slur. Coulter insisted to TMZ Live that she wrote her own jokes with some help from friends.

At the end of the roast, Lowe summed up Coulter’s performance by saying, “Ann, after seeing your set tonight, I think we’ve all just witnessed the first bombing that you can’t blame on a Muslim.”

It’s funny because it’s true.

Comedy aims to elicit a shared response. Coulter fails to understand that an insult that isn’t funny is just an insult. Saying things no one else would dare say might mean you’re rude, not funny. Coulter misses the comedic mark so often that even when she targets Donald Trump, it makes a liberal squirm.

Coulter started as a Trump superfan but turned against him when he didn’t meet her anti-Muslim standards. In February 2024, when someone on X asked how Trump could “help us take America back,” Coulter replied, “Maybe he could die?” This was Coulter’s idea of a joke—outrageous, violent, and tasteless.

The biggest disappointment I’ve felt towards my former AIM pal was when she became the first pundit to mock the son of the vice-presidential nominee for expressing pride in his father. Gus Walz’s reaction at the Democratic National Convention was heartfelt. Coulter’s negative response to an emotional teenager was so warped that she had second thoughts and removed the post, saying, “I took it down as soon as someone told me he’s autistic.”

This is problematic for several reasons. First, adding a “but” negates the apology. Second, the Democrats calling Trump and JD Vance weird is both funny and factual. Third, Gus Walz’s parents had already explained that he has a non-verbal learning disorder, anxiety disorder, and ADHD. Coulter’s description of Gus as “autistic” was not only grossly misspelled but also misinformed.

In essence, it was neither funny nor true.

The best description of Coulter’s relationship with comedy is her own words: “No one alive will admit to having no sense of humor, but the fact is some people don’t.”

These words were written by Coulter herself with no sense of irony.

Now that’s funny.

Source: The Daily Beast