Conservative Ann Coulter says the deadly storm ravaging Houston is more likely a holy punishment for the city electing a lesbian mayor than the result of climate change — an incendiary crack quickly denounced by openly gay comic Rosie O'Donnell and other celebrities.
In a startling post on Twitter, Coulter remarked about Hurricane Harvey, which is responsible for what is now officially the heaviest tropical downpour in U.S. history:
O'Donnell, an outspoken advocate on gay issues, responded:
Coulter's jaw-dropping crack revolves around Annise Danette Parker, who served as Houston's 61st mayor from 2010 until 2016 and was one of the first openly gay mayors of a major U.S. city.
The current mayor of Houston is Sylvester Turner.
Her post appeared to be in response to a Politico article she linked to her post headlined "Harvey Is What Climate Change Looks Like."
Along with O'Donnell's denouncement, Twitter quickly lit up with messages tearing into Coulter:
Misha Collins, of TV's "Supernatural" and "24," tweeted:
Michael Kelly, who plays Doug Stamper on "House of Cards," said on Twitter:
Actress Holly Marie Combs of TV's "Picket Fences," Charmed" and "Pretty Little Liars" said:
Actor Bob Clendenin, star of "Cougar Town," "Scrubs" and "That 70s Show," tweeted:
Ike Barinholtz, star of "The Mindy Project" and "MADtv," said on Twitter:
In another rebuff of Coulter's crack, The Independent, a British newspaper, wrote:
"While weather patterns are driven by a complex variety of factors, making it difficult to say an individual storm is caused by a given input, there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that humans are altering the climate by pouring greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
"On the other hand, there is no scientific evidence that electing gay people to public office affects the weather."
The rains in Cedar Bayou, southwest of Houston, reached 51.88 inches on Tuesday — a record for both Texas and the continental United States.
The storm that came ashore Friday near Corpus Christi has killed at least 17 people and forced 30,000 people to flee to emergency shelters.
Coulter is an American conservative social and political commentator, writer, syndicated columnist and lawyer.
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