KOA's Caldara asked Coulter if Clinton was "bitch-slapped" in debate

Discussing the January 21 CNN Democratic presidential candidates' debate, Newsradio 850 KOA host Jon Caldara during his broadcast that evening asked guest and right-wing pundit Ann Coulter whether it was "fair to say" that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) "got bitch-slapped tonight?"

Caldara played an audio clip of an exchange during the debate between Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama (IL) that ended just after Obama's remark, "[W]ell, I can't tell who I am running against sometimes." After calling Obama's remark "a spectacular line," Caldara asked, "[W]as it fair to say this woman got bitch-slapped tonight?" Coulter responded, "Yes. Yes."

According to the website Dictionary.com, Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English defines "bitch-slap" as "vulgar slang" meaning "to slap someone with an open hand, esp. in an attempt to put them in their place or cause humiliation." The site states the term's origin is "from black English, slapping a person as a pimp would slap a prostitute."

From the January 21 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Jon Caldara Show:

[begin audio clip]

CLINTON: I just want to be clear about this. In an editorial board with the Reno newspaper, you said two different things, because I have read the transcript.

[Caldara laughs]

CLINTON: You talked about Ronald Reagan being a transformative political leader. I did not mention his name.

OBAMA: Your husband did.

CLINTON: Well, I'm here; he's not.

OBAMA: OK; well, I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes.

CLINTON: I know -- well --

[end audio clip]

CALDARA: All right, now, that was -- that was just a spectacular line.

COULTER: Yes.

CALDARA: When he says, "I don't know which one I'm running against."

COULTER: Yes.

CALDARA: This -- was it fair to say this woman got bitch-slapped tonight?

COULTER: Yes. Yes. And exposed herself, I would think. I mean, Democrats never noticed how nefarious this behavior was when it was being applied to Republicans. Well, some Democrats did -- there were a lot of Democrats who really didn't like the Clintonian tactics. But when it's being applied to another Democrat, I would think the most hardened, partisan Democrat couldn't see what monsters these Clintons are.

— B.J.M.

Posted to the web on Tuesday January 22, 2008 at 8:01 PM EST