Ann Coulter is once again at the center of controversy, but this time her words have sparked a wave of outrage and heartbreak across Native communities and beyond. On Sunday, the far-right pundit reposted a video from a 2023 conference, where University of Minnesota professor and Navajo Nation member Melanie Yazzie was speaking about decolonization and climate change. What she added to the post was something so inflammatory that it didn’t take long to ignite public fury.
“We didn’t kill enough Indians,” Coulter wrote. The comment, which was quickly deleted, spread fast and left many stunned and horrified.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. didn’t hold back in his response. In a powerful Facebook statement, he called Coulter’s words “beyond abhorrent” and labeled them as “dangerous hate speech.”
“Coulter’s statement, on its face, is a despicable rhetorical shot trained on the First Peoples of this continent,” he wrote, adding that the comment was meant to “dehumanize and diminish” Native people and their ancestors. “We’ve faced enough of that since this country’s founding.”
Hoskin’s message was more than just a condemnation. It was a warning about the real-world consequences of normalizing such rhetoric. He explained how these kinds of statements have historically fueled the erasure of tribes, violations of treaty rights, and widespread oppression. According to him, Coulter’s words don’t exist in isolation — they’re part of a growing trend of public attacks on marginalized communities, reported HuffPost.
“The country frequently seems on the verge of political violence,” he said. “Coulter’s post implicitly encourages it.”
Even though there may be a temptation to dismiss her comment as just another outrageous soundbite, Hoskin made a strong case for why silence isn’t an option. “We can get used to the frequent attacks and watch silently as this group and that group is dehumanized and diminished,” he said. “Hatred in the public will become white noise, accepted as ‘just the way it is.’”
He urged people to speak up, regardless of political leanings. “What Ann Coulter said is heartless, vicious and should be repudiated by people of good faith regardless of political philosophy or party,” he continued. “Some things are simply wrong and we cannot validate it through our silence.”
Vice President of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes Tasha Mousseau also weighed in, calling Coulter’s words a sad reflection of a colonial mindset that still persists. Speaking with KOSU public radio in Oklahoma, she offered a pointed response.
“In Indian country, either in the Western sense with education or taking our traditions back and learning our languages, we say that we are our ancestors’ wildest dreams,” Mousseau said. “I would argue that she’s her ancestors’ wildest dreams. She is what colonizers would like to continue on in this country.”
The backlash continues to build as more voices join in to condemn the statement, urging a broader conversation about the impact of hate speech and the importance of standing up against it.