Ann Coulter rants about 'Jews' and Israel during GOP debate

Mary Bowerman | USA TODAY Network

The GOP debate on CNN was full of zingers, but some of the comments that caused the most controversy were from the sidelines.

Conservative syndicated columnist Ann Coulter posted a series of tweets during the GOP debate that many are calling 'anti-semitic." After several candidates addressed the need to strengthen the relationship between the U.S. and Israel, Coulter tweeted, 'How many (expletive) Jews do these people think there are in the United States?"

Coulter, who has over 600,000 followers on Twitter, said she was the responding to the plethora of GOP support for Israeli relations, during the second GOP debate held at the Ronald Reagan Library in California.

Her Twitter tirade began early in the debate and a string of tweets called out the candidates for what she later called "pandering" to Israel.

Good grief! Huckabee is running for PM of Israel. — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 17, 2015

Cruz, Huckabee Rubio all mentioned ISRAEL in their response to: "What will AMERICA look like after you are president." — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 17, 2015

Christie also talks @ Israel in response to the question: What will AMERICA look like after you are president? — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 17, 2015

How to get applause from GOP donors: 1) Pledge to start a war 2) Talk about job creators 3) Denounce abortion 4) Cite Reagan 5) Cite Israel. — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 17, 2015

Coulter received a mixed response, with some offering support and others slamming the columnist as an "anti-semitic." Coulter tweeted in defense of the comments throughout the night.

On Twitter Coulter responded to a tweet that said "shame on you," by explaining that she was calling out Republicans for their worn-out rhetoric. She tweeted, "All GOPs = prolife, pro-Reagan, pro-Israel. Pandering on all 3 tonight was EPIC."

I like the Jews, I like fetuses, I like Reagan. Didn't need to hear applause lines about them all night. https://t.co/4guFehK0CM — Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 17, 2015

On Twitter, the hashtag #IStandWithAnn was used by people voicing support for the columnist.

#IStandWithAnn cause there's nothing wrong with wanting American politicians to put the interests of Americans first pic.twitter.com/MfCurpSJms — Nuk (@nukktl) September 17, 2015

#IStandWithAnn because if Israel can build a wall, accept no refugees, and deport immigrants, so can the USA and Europe. — End Cultural Marxism (@genophilia) September 17, 2015

Others noted that the majority of those using the hashtag were voicing "anti-semitic" opinions.

So #IStandWithAnn is now a thing, because anti-Semitism. — Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) September 17, 2015

That #IStandWithAnn, in support of @AnnCoulter, a full-blown bigot and #Antisemite, is actually trending, is sickening! — Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) September 17, 2015

America has interests that aren't Israel's interests #IStandWithAnn — John J. Johnson (@JohnJJohnsonMN) September 17, 2015

Follow @Marybowerman on Twitter.