Coulter Dismisses Criticism Of Remarks About Jews

Conservative firebrand Ann Coulter dismissed criticism of her remarks about Jews earlier this week, saying only liberals were offended by her comments, not "religious Jews."

On Monday, Coulter said on Donny Deutsch's CNBC show “The Big Idea,” that Jews “need to be perfected” and suggested the country would be better off if there were no Jews at all.

“We just want Jews to be perfected, as they say,” Coulter told a seemingly startled Deutsch.

In an interview on CNBC's Kudlow & Company Friday night, Coulter was unapologetic about her comments, saying "it was just a basic description of the Old Testament and the New Testament...No religious Jew, no religious Christian is offended by a statement about Christianity."

"Liberals are condemning this," she added. "But religious Jews are calling in from Brooklyn and saying 'You have it exactly right.'"

"What is happening is this American sport of being first to take offense," Coulter continued. "It's getting a little old."

During Monday's "Big Idea," Coulter made her controversial remarks as she was promoting her new book, “If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d be Republicans.” As Deutsch was preparing to break for a commercial, he criticized Coulter for her comments.

“If Ann Coulter had any brains, she would not say Jews need to be perfected. I’m offended by that personally,” Deutsch said.

Deutsch later told Adweek magazine that Coulter seemed unnerved and wanted to clarify her remarks after the commercial break.

“I think she got frightened that maybe she had crossed a line, that this was maybe a faux pas of great proportions,” he said. “I mean, did it show ignorance? Anti-Semitism? It wasn’t just one of those silly things.”

After the break, Coulter said her remarks were rooted in the Bible.

“That is what Christians consider themselves, perfected Jews. We believe the Old Testament,” she said. “As you know from the Old Testament, God was constantly getting fed up with humans for not being able to, you know, live up to all the laws. What Christians believe – this is just a statement of what the New Testament is – is that that’s why Christ came and died for our sins. Christians believe the Old Testament. You don’t believe our testament.”

The remarks were reminiscent of those that got radio shock jock Don Imus fired earlier this year from his morning radio show at WFAN-AM in New York, with simulcast on MSNBC. During an April broadcast, Imus called players on the Rutgers University basketball team “nappy-headed hos.”

Imus later threatened to sue CBS, which owns WFAN, over the firing, but the two sides reached a settlement in August that reportedly was worth at least $10 million. Though no formal announcement has been made, it is widely believed that Imus is headed back to the air in a few months, probably at WABC-AM.

The National Jewish Democratic Council responded to the Coulter controversy by encouraging media outlets to stop giving her a platform to espouse her ideas.

“How does someone who says that Judaism should be thrown out, that Jews should be ‘perfected’ and that America would be better off were everyone Christian continue to receive a megaphone and platform from the news networks?” NJDC Executive Director Ira N. Forman said in a statement on the group's Web site. “When will the media say ‘enough is enough?’”

In an interview earlier Friday, Deutsche said the public may be growing tired of people who make a living by making outrageous remarks.

"I just think we're at a moment in time now where the act is wearing a little thin," Deutsch said on "Squawk on the Street." "From a media point of view I think it's getting old. I think 'positive' is going to be the new black and I think the presidential candidates need to recognize that."

© 2009 CNBC.com