Ann Coulter tells Chattanooga student to 'grow a pair, babycakes'

Ann Coulter is pictured in this file photo.
Ann Coulter is pictured in this file photo.
photo Ann Coulter poses with Hamilton County Commissioner Sabrena Smedley, who represents East Brainerd, after Monday's talk. Smedley had Coulter sign her latest book, "Adios, America: The Left's Plan to Turn Our Country into a Third World Hellhole."

She came, she saw, she Coultered.

Conservative author and firebrand Ann Coulter was in town Monday to speak on "America Under Obama: How to Recover and Save Our Country" at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Coulter told a mostly friendly crowd at Roland Hayes Concert Hall that "anchor babies" aren't protected by the Constitution, that Mexican immigrants who are already here don't want their wages driven down by more coming in, and that what Coulter called "mass illegal immigration" is backed by billionaire George Soros and others who believe that "America's a bad country and deserves to be humbled."

During the question-and-answer segment of the talk, Coulter took one young woman to task who said, "You really need to stop attacking college students."

"C'mon, grow a pair, babycakes," Coulter responded.

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1868 to protect the rights of newly freed slaves, Coulter said, not so that babies born here to undocumented mothers could become citizens.

"It's not about illegals running across the border, dropping an anchor baby and saying, 'Haha, you didn't catch me,'" Coulter said.

She told the crowd, "We have our own poor people. We don't need to be bringing in more of them."

photo Ann Coulter poses with Hamilton County Commissioner Sabrena Smedley, who represents East Brainerd, after Monday's talk. Smedley had Coulter sign her latest book, "Adios, America: The Left's Plan to Turn Our Country into a Third World Hellhole."

Pre-1970s, the United States screened immigrants better, and they wound up making more money and being better-educated than the average American, Coulter said.

We want immigrants who are "better than us, not the same as us and definitely not worse than us," she said. "A country has a right to choose its own citizens in the same way you can't force your way onto the New England Patriots."

UTC freshman Blake Kitterman, president of the Bradley County Young Democrats, said he didn't agree with Coulter's message, but "I think it's important that we hear people of all [opinions]."

Coulter praised Republic presidential contender Donald Trump during a question-and-answer session with the media. When Trump threw his hat into the ring, he said that "when Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some I assume are good people."

Trump has led the polls since entering the race, and Coulter thinks he can win the nomination.

"He's saying what all kinds of Americans have been begging their leaders to say," she said.

Coulter was invited to speak by the Scott L. Probasco Jr. Chair of Free Enterprises as part of the 2015 Burkett Miller Distinguished Lecture Series. A 15-minute response to Coulter's 45-minute talk was given by Michelle D. Deardorff, the head of UTC's political science department.

Among those who came to cheer on Coulter was Hamilton County District 7 Commissioner Sabrena Smedley, who represents East Brainerd.

"I always appreciate a candid speaker," said Smedley, who had Coulter sign her latest book, "Adios, America: The Left's Plan to Turn Our Country into a Third World Hellhole."

Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu @timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/Meets ForBusiness or twitter.com/meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.

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