Ann Coulter Attacks Asian Reporter on Twitter Because Apparently Asians Can’t Talk About Racism

Coulter is notorious for her anti-immigration, anti-muslim and other far-right sentiments which have been heavily criticized in the past. Described as “the woman trying to be the most hated in America” by The Telegraph, Coulter famously wrote this response regarding Muslims after 9/11: “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.” 

And about Mexican immigrants: “If you don’t want to be killed by Isis, don’t go to Syria. If you don’t want to be killed by a Mexican, there’s nothing I can tell you.”

This time, Coulter is drawing backlash for going after the Asian American communities following a series of tweets where she attacked Media Matters reporter Eric Hananoki after he published a piece detailing the problematic nature of Jon Feere — a senior official for ICE — celebrating her racist anti-immigration and islamophobic commentary.

Feere has publicly supported Coulter’s columns in which she wrote, “Muslims pouring into our countries and committing mass murder isn’t natural at all. It’s the direct result of government policy. It’s as if the government were dumping rats in our houses,” reports Hananoki. There have been over a dozen tweets from Feere showing his support for Coulter’s far-right views and even promoting white nationalist publications.

Shortly after this report was published, Coulter shot back at Hananoki in a series of tweets where she implied that Asians did not have the authority to speak on issues regarding racism. Some of her responses even attempted to drive a wedge between the Asian and African American communities.

“An Asian is going to explain racism to us. Apparently it has nothing to do with black people. It’s all about IMMIGRANTS,” she wrote.

It’s also important to note at this point that Hananoki’s original report did not address racism towards Black or Asian communities in America, nor did it even contain the words “Black” or “Asian” — the report simply discussed Coulter and Feere’s bigotry towards all marginalized groups.

Whether Coulter failed to read the actual report or simply chose to ignore it, she clearly missed the point of Hananoki’s findings. Instead, she continued her rant by writing, “Forget the Middle Passage, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Civil Rights…. Racism is only about ASIAN IMMIGRANTS! — Eric Hananoki”

She then began sharing photographs of the Media Matters journalist, with the captions:

“Hey, black people! Eric Hananoki will tell you what’s racist!” and “Have you ever noticed all the good anti-racism jobs are going to Asians? Eric Hananoki: Racism Slayer!”

It wasn’t long before she began attacking the publication itself. Writing, “Oh! I just thought of a new civil right for you guys at Media Matters to celebrate: Asians & Jews who think they’re black.”

However, most were not convinced by Coulter’s sudden concern for the African American communities. It was only hours before her tirade against Media Matters that she tweeted that civil rights laws should only apply to descendants of American slaves.

“Instead of banning wool face masks, let’s do something useful, like recalling that civil rights laws are only for the descendants of American slaves,” she wrote in response to the recent backlash over Gucci apparel resembling blackface.

While Coulter may believe in the convenient narrative where Asians cannot become victims of racial discrimination and instead pose a threat to job-seeking white Americans, the stories of early Asian immigrants and modern-day Asian Americans prove otherwise. It’s important to remember the violence and exclusion directed towards Asians, from The Chinese Exclusion Act and Asiatic Barred Zone Act to The Chinese massacre of 1871 — disregarding such information would mean the erasure of crucial moments in Asian American history.