WAS THE BITCH AMBUSHED?

I read somewhere over the last 24 hours that Coulter was ambushed on Hardball by Mrs. Edwards phone call. As usual, that's a lie¹:

SHUSTER:...So how did the Ann Coulter/Elizabeth Edwards confrontation happen? Before Tuesday`s HARDBALL appearance, MSNBC promoted that viewer comments and questions would be part of the program.

TAMMY HADDAD, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, HARDBALL: The Edwards campaign called to ask if it was possible that Elizabeth could talk to Ann Coulter live on the air, and we told them yes.

SHUSTER: In turn, Haddad had a conversation with Coulter.

HADDAD: I talked to Ann before the show and told her that we had gotten a call from the Edwards campaign and that Elizabeth might call in. And she was fine with it.

From the transcript for the Hardball show from yesterday, we learn that Coulter's many previous statements were "fair game":

SHUSTER*: Coulter has a lengthy record of provoking critics and making new enemies, all of which fuels her notoriety and book sales. Shortly after 9/11, she referred to the Muslim world and said, quote, “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”

While covering the 2004 Democratic convention for “USA Today,” Coulter began one article with, “Here at the spawn of Satan convention in Boston.” Last year, Coulter attacked the 9/11 widows known as the “Jersey girls.” Quote, “These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them. I‘ve never seen people enjoying their husbands‘ deaths so much.”

*In both the MSNBC and the Lexis-Nexis transcripts, "COULTER" is incorrectly given as the speaker.


¹SHOW: HARDBALL 5:00 PM EST
June 27, 2007 Wednesday
TRANSCRIPT: 062701cb.461
SECTION: NEWS; Domestic
LENGTH: 8836 words
HEADLINE: HARDBALL for June 27, 2007 MSNBC
BYLINE: Chris Matthews, David Shuster, Donny Deutsch, Hilary Rosen
GUESTS: John Edwards, Chuck Todd, Lois Romano, Ron Christie, Armstrong Williams