Conservative pundit Ann Coulter has made an entire career out of saying shocking, deliberately offensive things in response to public controversies. So she did today when she weighed in on the career meltdown of Breitbart Editor and fellow conservative Milo Yiannopoulos in terms calculated for maximum outrage.
Coulter’s tweet comes after video emerged over the weekend in which Yiannopoulos defended pedophiliac behavior at length, referred to people as young as 13 as “sexually mature,” and joked that his own experience as a victim of molestation made him good at oral sex.
Most pundits roundly condemned Yiannopoulos. Here’s Coulter’s take:
Well, Milo learned HIS lesson. Pederasty acceptable only for refugees and illegals. Then libs will support you.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) February 21, 2017
The self-described professional “troll” attempted to manage the PR disaster this morning with a statement on Facebook, insisting that his comments were taken out of context.
“I am a gay man, and a child abuse victim,” Yiannopoulos wrote on his Facebook page Monday. “I would like to restate my utter disgust at adults who sexually abuse minors.”
Yiannopoulos went on to say that he was “horrified by pedophilia,” adding that he’s “outed three of them, in fact — three more than most of my critics.”
The effort was however to no avail. In short order, Yiannopoulos was disinvited from his plum speaking gig at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), and lost his $250,000 book deal with Simon & Schuster. In addition, rumors swirled this afternoon that his job at Breitbart is in jeopardy.
People were quick to bash Coulter’s remarks.
https://twitter.com/jasondashbailey/status/833847166737252352
https://twitter.com/matthewjdowd/status/833849829302353920
you should really just stop talking
— Malynda Hale (@MalyndaHale) February 21, 2017