Ann Coulter is warning President Trump that he cannot count on her support in 2020 just yet, telling TheWrap that she wants to see more progress on her immigration priorities before she commits to him for a second term in the White House.
“If the election were today, I’d vote for Trump solely because of his attacks on the press,” she said. “But a lot can happen in two years. Who knows?”
In fact, the conservative firebrand floated the names of some other Republicans who might win her support over Trump. “I bet we could trust Tom Cotton or David Perdue to build the wall,” she said, mentioning U.S. senators from Arkansas and Georgia, respectively. “Even the great [Kansas Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate] Kris Kobach might be rested and ready!”
Coulter, who is promoting her just-published 13th book, “Resistance is Futile,” was not shy about her reservations about Trump. “We always knew [Trump] might be a charlatan,” she added. “I consider my harshness toward him tough love.”
The best-selling author, widely considered the intellectual godmother of President Trump’s immigration policies, also insisted that she has no plans to enter elective politics herself.
“No, I’d never run for office. I don’t want a job,” she said. “I’m a very private person and when you’re an author, no one has to know anything about you, who you date, what your house costs, where you live — it’s none of your effing business.”
Coulter, an immigration hard-liner has long been critical of Trump for neglecting the wall he repeatedly promised to build during the campaign along the Mexican border. In the past, she has issued very public reminders about the lack of progress on the matter.
“I knew he was a shallow, lazy ignoramus, and I didn’t care,” Coulter told a crowd at Columbia University during a quasi-debate with writer Mickey Kaus in March.
“It kind of breaks my heart,” she added. “He’s not giving us what he promised at every single campaign stop.”
Tweets critical of Trump and his policies have become frequent.
Today's BORDER WALL CONSTRUCTION UPDATE: Miles completed yesterday-Zero; Miles completed since Inauguration– Zero. NEXT UPDATE TOMORROW.
Coulter’s is one of only 47 Twitter accounts that Trump follows, ensuring her posts show up on his timeline.
Coulter also has the rare ability to send the president a direct messages, a direct line to him beyond the reach of his gatekeeper, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.
However, Coulter told TheWrap that she has never direct-messaged the commander in chief.
Mike Cernovich, a Timeline: From Choking Advice to Pizzagate to Firings (Photos)
Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.
Advice on Choking Women
Before gaining fame as a Trump superfan, Cernovich got his start in the men's rights and pick-up artist community. His advice column, published on his blog "Danger and Play," included suggestions on the proper way to "choke" women during sex. This entry from December 2011 has since been deleted: "Choking works because it’s a show of dominance. Women only want to have consensual sex with men they know could rape them."
Pizzagate
Cernovich first came to wide public attention over his promotion of a conspiracy theory during the 2016 election that suggested that a pedophile ring was being run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria. The story was bunk, and Cernovich has moved to distance himself from Pizzagate.
Will Sommer/Twitter
John Conyers
Cernovich's biggest score of all probably wasn't James Gunn, but John Conyers. A tip provided by Cernovich to BuzzFeed about accusations of sexual misconduct forced the Democrat to resign his seat in disgrace in December 2017.
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Sam Seder
Mike Cernovich targeted the MSNBC contributor over a years-old joke about his daughter being raped. MSNBC dropped Seder in December 2017, but reinstated him after a public backlash.
MSNBC
Sopan Deb
Cernovich went after New York Times reporter Sopan Deb in March 2017 over a tweeted pun about the rapper Bow Wow. The incident earned Deb an official rebuke from the Times' then-public editor, Liz Spayd.
Josh Barro
In November 2017, Cernovich demanded an apology from Josh Barro after the Business Insider Senior Editor made fun of his lisp. Barro swiftly retreated.
Twitter
Perry Fein
In June 2018, Los Angeles Times freelancer Perry Fein slipped into Cernovich's DMs and wished harm upon him. His relationship with the newspaper was over just hours later.
Los Angeles Times Media Group
James Gunn
Last week, Cernovich helped lead an online campaign highlighting old tweets in which Gunn joked about rape about pedophilia. Gunn offered an apology, but was dropped by Disney from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise.
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Cheri Jacobus
Before the James Gunn situation, Cernovich also led a brief and successful campaign to pressure USA Today to drop columnist Cheri Jacobus. The decision from the paper came after Jacobus' bizarre comments about convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Michael Ian Black
Cernovich has trained his fire on comedian Michael Ian Black, who has said several times on Twitter that his tweets about pedophilia were only jokes.
YouTube
Dan Harmon
Fresh off his victory in ousting Gunn from "Guardians of the Galaxy," Cernovich forced "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon and his employers at Adult Swim to apologize over an old sketch that featured Harmon graphically simulating the rape of a baby. (The sketch used a doll, not an actual baby.)
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The right-wing provocateur has become a thorn to liberals online
Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.