Coulter explains why she is "trying to associate [Obama] with Saddam Hussein?": "Because I think it's funny"

Summary: On Hannity & Colmes, Alan Colmes asked Ann Coulter, "Why do you keep emphasizing his [Sen. Barack Obama's] middle name as if you're trying to associate him with Saddam Hussein?" Coulter replied, "Because I think it's funny." During the interview, Coulter referred to Obama as "B. Hussein Obama" twice and injected: "Get ready for President Hussein, and let's start planning for the next president."

During the February 14 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, co-host Alan Colmes asked right-wing pundit Ann Coulter, who has a well-documented history of making anti-Muslim remarks, to explain her persistent habit of referring to Sen. Barack Obama as "B. Hussein Obama." When Colmes asked Coulter, "Why do you keep emphasizing his [Obama's] middle name as if you're trying to associate him with Saddam Hussein," she replied, "Because I think it's funny." During the interview, Coulter referred to Obama as "B. Hussein Obama" twice. At the interview's conclusion, Coulter injected: "Get ready for President Hussein, and let's start planning for the next president."

As Media Matters for America noted, on the February 13 edition of Fox News' Your World, Coulter repeatedly referred to Obama as "B. Hussein Obama" -- five times in all, within a span of less than 2 minutes -- once calling him "President Hussein." She asserted: "It's shocking that ... he's probably going to be our next president, President Hussein."

From the February 14 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:

COLMES: Solidarity. Ann Coulter telling the world how she really feels about John McCain. Now that Hillary Clinton's campaign appears to have hit a little bit of a rough patch, will the -- thanks to Ann Coulter, perhaps -- will the conservative columnist throw her support behind Barack Obama? With us now, the author of If Democrats Had Any Brains, They Would Be Republicans, A. Heart Coulter. That's what you do to Barack Obama, B. Hussein Obama. What does his middle name have anything to do with --

COULTER: You know, it's really irrelevant because our gal --

COLMES: But why do you do that?

COULTER: -- Hillary is doing a fine job now.

COLMES: Yeah, but why do you do that? Why do you keep emphasizing his middle name as if you're trying to associate him with Saddam Hussein?

COULTER: Because I think it's funny. OK, back to Hillary. She won in New Mexico --

COLMES: I hear the gales of laughter.

[...]

HANNITY: Let me bring Ann in here. When you were on the last time, your phrase was that she, Hillary, is stronger on the war on terrorism.

COULTER: Yes.

HANNITY: That's absurd.

COULTER: No.

HANNITY: Yes, it is.

COULTER: No, Soros is against Hillary. He is for John McCain. He is for B. Hussein Obama.

HANNITY: Hillary sent these boys -- sent these kids --

COLMES: There you go again.

[...]

HANNITY: When you say stronger in the war on terrorism, I can't imagine that we're going to have spent all this time in Iraq and that we're going to elect a president that's going to get in there in 90 days and pull the plug --

COULTER: I don't think we'll ever do that.

HANNITY: -- and hand Iraq over to [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad.

COULTER: I wonder if either of the Democrats will do it. But all I know about Obama, B. Hussein Obama, is that he's for hope. But Hillary has made very clear she wouldn't pull the troops out.

HANNITY: She's out. She absolutely says, "I will begin withdrawing within 90 days." Says it over and over again.

COULTER: Begin. Yeah, begin. Just last week she said, "No, we need them."

HANNITY: Oh, John McCain is saying, "We'll stay until the job is done.

[...]

COLMES: Ann, congratulations. You've done the impossible. You've got him to defend John McCain.

COULTER: And he was part of the Gang of 14.

HANNITY: I agree. I disagree with it. I'm with you. But he did vote for --

COULTER: Get ready for President Hussein, and let's start planning for the next president.

COLMES: Congratulations.

HANNITY: All right, we've got to take a break. Ann, we love seeing you.

COULTER: Thank you.

HANNITY: Thank you for being with us.

COULTER: Go Hillary.

HANNITY: And coming up --

COLMES: Congratulations.

—A.J.W.