Gay slur against Edwards

2007-03-05 09:37

Washington - Outspoken US conservative columnist Ann Coulter is drawing fire from Republicans and Democrats alike after publicly using a derogatory gay slur in reference to Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards.

Coulter made the comments on Friday during a speech at the influential American Conservative Union's Political Action Conference, calling Edwards a "faggot".

"Ann Coulter not only once again went out of her way to use a nasty epithet, she pushed her offensiveness up a notch," Amy Ridenour, president of the National Centre for Public Policy Research, said on Sunday.

"We conservatives have enough trouble overcoming the false things that are said about us without paying for a platform upon which we shoot ourselves annually in the foot," Ridenour, whose group helped sponsor the conference, said in a statement on the centre's website.

Coulter said the comment was a joke and on her website she carried the speech with the comment, "I'm so ashamed, I can't stop laughing".

She then said Edwards' campaign chairperson's main job was "fronting for Arab terrorists".

Bigotry and prejudice

Edwards, a 2008 presidential contender and the party's 2004 vice presidential candidate, said Coulter's comments were "un-American and indefensible".

"The kind of hateful language she used has no place in political debate or our society at large," he wrote in comments posted to his website on Saturday.

"I believe it is our moral responsibility to speak out against that kind of bigotry and prejudice every time we encounter it," Edwards added.

The candidate also posted a video of Coulter's comments, asking supporters to raise $100 000 in so-called "Coulter Cash" for his campaign to "fight back against the politics of bigotry".

Coulter is no stranger to controversy.

At the same conference last year, she used the word "raghead" - a slur against Muslims - in referring to US homeland security policies.

In a column published in the National Review after the September 11 attacks she urged an invasion of Muslim countries and forced conversion to Christianity.

- Reuters