September 25, 2015
When political pundit Ann Coulter made disparaging comments on Twitter claiming that presidential candidates were pandering to the Jewish community and questioned some candidates’ focus on Israel during the CNN Republican debate on September 16, white supremacists and anti-Semites were gleeful that she took on what they call “the Jewish question.” Extremists believe that Coulter was exposing alleged “Jewish power” in this country.
This is not the first time that extremists have lauded Coulter for her views. Extremists have been talking about Coulter for a number of years on Stormfront, the largest white supremacist Internet forum. While there are myriad opinions about Coulter, she has become increasingly popular among extremists who see her as a voice for white nationalism or at least someone who might influence conservatives to move toward white nationalist views.
Coulter does not have any ties to the white supremacists who support her but what she says on issues such as immigration or demographics often resonates with them. There are generally three extremist perspectives about Coulter: 1) that she is actually a white nationalist who is bringing that cause to the wider public; 2) that she has some good points but should not be embraced because she doesn’t deal with the “Jewish question” (at least until the debate took place), and 3) that she is a neoconservative who is not to be trusted.
Early doubts about Coulter
White supremacist support for Coulter was not always this strong. In earlier years, some white supremacists gave Coulter the benefit of the doubt, but most posting in places like Stormfront were blunt about their disapproval of Coulter. In 2004, poster Pravoslavnia wrote, “Maybe I’m mistaken, but isn’t Coulter a Jew-loving neo-Conservative?” Similar sentiments about Coulter followed in 2006 when a person posting as Saturnia declared that Coulter was “just another neo-con who talks a lot.” Poster Bigblackhole agreed, calling Coulter a “neocon puppet.”
By 2007, some posters on Stormfront were praising Coulter more, though still expressing doubts about her because of her alleged neo-conservatism. One poster using the name BeautynBrains1488 wrote, “It’s good to know somebody like her in on our team. I like her.” Another person on Stormfront commented in 2009, “Ok, ok, I know she’s something of a neocon stooge, and sometimes I really can’t stand her, buuut…sometimes I love her!” That same year, poster Alex Nightshade stated, “I’ve always had a soft spot for Ann Coulter-I know she’s been with the neo-cons sometimes but at the same time I feel she’s also with us on many issues.“
Many of the posters on Stormfront disparaged Coulter for allegedly dating non-white and Jewish men. In more recent years, she attracted more defenders. A person posting as Stonewall1966, for example, wrote in response to a number of others attacking Coulter, “Is Ann Coulter a less than perfect messenger of our message. Yes. Should we, who love our people and our cause, be grateful still, that our concerns are given a voice on MSM [mainstream media]? Absolutely!!!.”
Fans of Coulter
Criticisms of Coulter continued into 2015 but were increasingly opposed by white supremacists with positive views of her. Coulter received many high marks from posters on Stormfront as well as other white supremacist sites by June when her book Adios, America! was released. They believed that she was giving a voice to their own views in the mainstream after she made bigoted comments about immigrants in her book.
Jared Taylor, who runs the white supremacist website American Renaissance (AR), declared that Coulter with her book “has established herself as the foremost advocate for immigration sanity in America—if not the world.” A supporter on the AR website wrote about Coulter, “It takes a smart woman to seek out and recognize the truth, no matter where it might be found.”
On Stormfront, a person using the name Hammershark88 declared, “I like this woman more and more each day.” Tenniel on Stormfront was even more effusive, calling Coulter “a highly talented and intellectually brilliant well-known influential mainstream public personality” who had the ability “to reach and influence literally HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of white people not only in America, but the world over.”
On Vanguard News Network, another white supremacist Internet forum, a poster named Socrates commented, “No, Ann Coulter is not a White nationalist. But nonetheless, this book will help Sally Soccermom, or your Aunt Martha, understand what is coming to America soon: Brown Man, courtesy of Big Jew.”
Other white supremacists such as David Duke liked Coulter’s comments about immigrants in her book but were angry that she did not talk about alleged Jewish influence on immigration. In June, on Stormfront, Duke advertised an episode of his radio show discussing Coulter’s book, saying, “The reason why America is becoming a ‘Third World Hell Hole’ is because The Media, Government, Finance and academia has become a Jewish Supremacist Hell Hole! Ann Coulter and how the ZioMedia misdirects us to ignore the ultimate enemy that is behind our genocide.”
Posters on Stormfront agreed with Duke but felt that Coulter was still on the mark. A poster named Advocate wrote, “No one has ever said we should rely on Coulter or any other ‘conservative’ to name the Jew. That’s our job. However many WN’s may dislike Coulter, this book and her bold presentation of this issue in conservative media are great steps forward.”
Still others felt that, even though Coulter wasn’t a white nationalist, she was valuable to their cause. Billy Roper, a well-known white supremacist activist, commented, “I understand that she’s not a WN. However, to mainstream Americans watching her on Fox, she pushed the dialectic in our direction, and I feel that is a good thing.”
More support for Coulter
As Coulter increasingly expressed support for presidential candidate Donald Trump, white supremacists praised her more often, some even suggesting that she and Trump appear on a ticket together as presidential and vice presidential candidates.
In August, Andrew Anglin, who runs the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer, wrote that he wished that Coulter were running the Donald Trump campaign. A few months earlier, Anglin wrote that people like Coulter “are changing the narrative, shifting it to the right, and this is absolutely a good thing, whatever the context.”
After her tweets about Jews and Israel in September, Coulter gained even more kudos from extremists. Anglin was enthusiastic in his response, writing, “Hail Queen Ann, Defender of the European People and Protector of the White Race. Hail Victory.” Anti-Semitic writer John Friend posted a column on his website headed, “Ann Coulter openly confronts Jewish supremacy in the West.”
Others still questioned whether Coulter was really talking about alleged Jewish influence. Although Duke initially said that Coulter had “hit the nail on the head regarding pandering on Israel, ” his right-hand man Patrick Slattery said that Coulter’s problem “is not with the candidates’ Zio-centric foreign policies and blind support for Israel (which she claims to be a ‘huge fan’ of), but their ad nausim [sic] references to it.”
Notorious anti-Semite Kevin MacDonald, stated on his Occidental Observer website that Coulter has not really grappled with the “Jewish question.” In an article for the Occidental Observer, he claimed that Coulter is “right on the money” about immigration but purposely does not deal with Jewish influence. Still, she has his support. He wrote, “At this point, we have to be thankful for Ann Coulter and hope that this latest affair will not get her banned from the mainstream. Beggars can’t be choosers.”
What is clear is that as Coulter has made increasingly provocative and bigoted comments, her support among the white supremacist community had blossomed. While white supremacists live on the fringe, Coulter is a mainstream presence with the ability to reach a wider audience. She is contributing to the mainstreaming of hateful rhetoric.