Aaron James, author of the book Assholes: A Theory, has a column on Huffington Post today headlined “8 Really Big A*sholes” In the column, James identifies eight public figures who he deems to be “a*sholes.”

One of them is conservative author Ann Coulter. “She recently called Obama a ‘retard’ on Twitter,” James writes. “She says things she’s not entitled to say, marshals moral rationalizations, and refuses to listen to the complaints of others.”

And yet, President Obama is also identified as an “as*hole” by James. His reasoning:

He had an asshole phase, at the low point of his campaign. In his first debate with Romney, he seemed to treat his re-election as something he was entitled to, at the very time he needed to earn his right to remain in office. Was that justified by his disdain for Romney? By his general exhaustion? Or by his lack of respect for the dysfunctional state of our politics? As he subsequently seemed to realize, the answer is plainly “no.”