Ann Coulter: ‘Overweight Girls’ Should Be Banned From U.S.A. By Immigration Laws, Pundit Says

Ann Coulter, the popular 53-year-old conservative commentator and author, said this week that if she were able to control United States immigration policies, “overweight girls” would be banned from entering the country. The remark was made in reference to a pro-immigration activist who had asked Coulter to hug her at an event promoting one of the frequent Fox News guest’s numerous books.

Gaby Pacheco, an Ecuadorian immigrant who has been granted deferred deportation status by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, asked Coulter a question at the event in Miami, Florida, on May 26 — but before she got to her query she asked Coulter, if she could hug her, “as a sign of my humanity and yours.”

But the conservative pundit, who was promoting her newest book, Adios America: The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole, begged off the offer of affection, citing a recent flu bug.

The “hug” exchange between Pacheco and Coulter was widely covered and became a viral story on internet blogs and news sites.

Two days after the incident, Coulter was interviewed via email by the conservative blogging site Breitbart.com and asked about her apparent snub of the immigrant.

Coulter replied by saying were she in charge of United States immigration policies, she would refuse to “admit people like Pacheco to the United States,” the Breitbart site reported.

Coulter elaborated, apparently making a reference to Pacheco’s body type, explaining, “When I’m in charge of immigration (after our 10 year moratorium), I will not admit overweight girls.”

“She’s got a point,” wrote Breitbart.com blogger Matthew Boyle. “Shouldn’t the United States be picking the most desirable immigrants to bring into the United States, truly the best and brightest?”

Neither Boyle nor Coulter explained why “overweight” status would render a prospective immigrant “undesirable,” or what connection supposedly exists between weight and “bright” intellect.

In an interview with radio host Rick Sanchez on Friday, Pacheco noted Coulter’s reference to her weight.

“At the same time, that does not define who I am as a human being,” Pacheco said. “And the fact that she’s trying to shame me and she’s trying to make a joke of this just labels her as a bully.”

Sanchez also criticized Coulter’s reference to the weight of potential immigrants, saying, “You don’t need to do that.”

But Sanchez also praised Ann Coulter as “a brilliant woman” who, he said, he counts among his personal friends.

[Image: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images]