For only the second time in 2011, the first since February, conservative columnist and author Ann Coulter made an appearance on MSNBC.
On Tuesday’s “Morning Joe,” the conservative columnist and author gauged the 2012 GOP presidential field. But first she drew a distinction between the Democratic and Republican parties, explaining why the GOP race was less about “pragmatism” and more about conservatism.
“Well, I think there is a big difference between the Republican and Democratic parties,” Coulter said. “When the Democratic Party wants to win they have to hide their left wing. When the Republican Party wants to win, they have to produce and brag about their right wing. That’s my point in mentioning specific issues. A lot of people – conservatism is way more popular than Republicanism and more than twice as popular as liberalism. So when you say pragmatic, you seem to be implying they should hide their conservatism. They are being pragmatic by wanting to run the most conservative candidate. But it has to be the most conservative candidate who can win.”
As far as the field itself, Coulter has come out in support of former Massachusetts Mitt Romney and has problems with the other current frontrunner, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
“Perry, I mean, I like him,” she continued. “He is a great governor but he has not been good in the debates, Republican primary voters have seen that, and he has dropped in the polls. Newt Gingrich has some personal problems. I don’t think consistency is really one of them. I think taking a million dollars from Freddie Mac is not going to make him a huge hit with the tea party. But working with Pelosi, that isn’t a big hit with me but it is going to be hard to attack Newt Gingrich, I have to say in his defense on this point. He is – you can’t call him a Republican obstructionist who is denouncing Republicans and refuses to work with Republicans. He is doing this education thing with Al Sharpton. He is doing global warming commercial with Pelosi. He loves working with Democrats.”
Watch:
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Coulter ranked in order of who she thought was the most conservative among the 2012 field, giving the nod to Romney, followed by Herman Cain then Michele Bachmann. She added former Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Gingrich all had problems with immigration.
Gingrich would eventually fade Coulter said, but would last longer because of where his rise has fallen on the calendar.
“I do think as Gingrich as flavor of the month is going to last longer than the others only because he happened to hit at holiday season,” she said. “So it’s going to look like my prediction was wrong through Christmas and then my prediction will come roaring back.”