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DES MOINES, Iowa -- A statement Michele Bachmann made about Iran Wednesday instantly set off a flurry of activity on Twitter –- and spurred a clarification from the Minnesota congresswoman’s presidential campaign.
Bachmann, speaking at a town hall at a Pizza Ranch in Waverly, Iowa, reacted to news that the British government had shuttered its embassy in Iran after protesters stormed the premises.
"You may have heard that there was a break-in at the British embassy, and the British had to pull their people out,” Bachmann said. “That's exactly what I would do. We wouldn't have an American embassy in Iran. I wouldn't allow that to be there. Because they are a state sponsor of terror.”
The U.S. has not had an embassy in Iran for more than 30 years, since relations between the two countries were severed in the wake of the 1979 hostage crisis.
When NBC News relayed that comment on Twitter, it set off a flurry of interest in Bachmann's comment, forcing the campaign to clarify.
“She was agreeing with the actions taken by the British to secure their embassy personnel and was speaking in the hypothetical,” the campaign said in a statement. “If she was President of the United States and if we had an embassy in Iran, she would have taken the same actions as the British.”
Bachmann, a member since January of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, often cites her work on the committee as a distinguishing factor among a crowded field of GOP candidates.
“If we don't have someone as our nominee who gets this, who gets national security,” she mused to the crowd of about 60 people in Waverly, before adding: “No else in this race gets it the way that I do."
Bachmann has made Iran a centerpiece of her foreign policy agenda, calling recently for the Pentagon to develop a war plan with Iran, and for the US State Department to launch a regime of “crushing” economic sanctions on the country, in conjunction with China and Russia.
She also won praise recently for calling Pakistan “too nuclear to fail,” during a CNN debate Thanksgiving week – drawing a sharp contrast with Governor Perry of Texas, who favors cutting off American aid.
During a town hall in Charles City, Bachmann said she knew "from personal experience" that bias exists in the media. "I can tell you from personal experience that is 100-percent true. And it's disgusting to see. It's absolutely disgusting," she said.
The remarks followed a show of hands from the crowd of about fifty people, after Bachmann asked: "Do you think there's bias in the media?"
Turning to the three journalists in the room, she said, "I think the press corps should take a good look at that. Because that is what America thinks."
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How on earth does anyone take this woman seriously? And who keeps voting for her in that district in MN?
Would love to hear from someone who has voted for Michelle to tell us why.
I guess they are somewhat isolated up there in Lake woebegone. How can Garrison Keilor continue to claim that all of the children there are "above average?"
Anyone on the committee she is on should know about the
status including security of embassies in key countries.
It appears that she is easily confused when under pressure – sad.
Yep NewDay, cause stuff like this is so very important.
Not like, say the housing crisis. yet Barney Frank seem to get elected even after assuring congress in 2003 that Fannie and Freddie were A-OK.
Not like the exploding deficits. Yet all the congress critters keep chugging along. I don't suppose you have heard anyone seriously address the deficits lately?
How about the debt? All we hear is cuts tot he deficit, but no mention of paying down the DEBT.
$1.5 per year in deficit spending = doubling the existing debt in just 10 years.
So Newday - who did you vote for last time and what have they done to address the deficit or the debt?
Wayne; Keillor is dismissive of Bachmann. But she does blow that argument about the children of MN, doesn't she? Most rational people here hopes that she just leaves when she finally catches up to the idea that the only one who thinks she should be President is her.
Yeh, I know that Garrison calls himself a "yellow dog Democrat."
Nobody will have the courage to state that they voted for this nut case! She is one of the dumbest person in the Tea-Bagger/Republican party next to Sarah Palin!
The FIRSY rule to have a seat at that table, is you have to demonstrate your IQ is higher than a turnips!
I wonder what she blackmailed Boehner with? lol
How about Megan McCain on MSNBC earlier calling bat @!$%# crazy smarter than Palin?
Hey NDD - will she retain her seat if this Presidential thingy doesn't work out as planned?
Bachmann is talking about not running again. But, there is a legitimate challenger, Tarryl Clark, who almost beat her the last time. I send her money from time to time. When that district wakes up to how little time Bachmann spends on their concerns, it could get interesting.
But that is the guns and God crowd...you never don't know, as my neighbor would say.
Classic. History apparently her strong suit!
How Presidential!
Hell I think she would make a great US Ambassador in Iran, when they get a load of her they will figure out the danger in letting crazy religious zealots take over your government, and they will voluntarily become more moderate.
If the campaign could have just kept her from talking, she may have had a chance.
She should have had that cartoon penguin as her campaign manager. "Just smile and wave, pretty woman. Smile and wave."
Bachmann??
HEY, SPANK! We got ANOTHER worthless politician for you to defend over here....
OK- the lines are now open for '57 states' comments and commentaries.
A politician? Shoot Drive By based upon your comment about what you'd do to me if we met in a dark alley, I guess I better be worried about defending myself froma mean old bully like you.
Physical violence and threats are never the answer Drive By.
Define worthless DBO. Now compare what she has done to what Obama accomplished as a senator.
Spanky just what has Bachmann done as a member of congress?
Do please enlighten us as to all the great things Bachmann has done.
"Define worthless DBO. Now compare what she has done to what Obama accomplished as a senator."
Sorry, 'counsellor'- Senator Obama is not the topic of the thread. But then again, neither is Frank or Fannie and Freddie, now are they?
Huh, but yet you were somehow able to conclude she is worthless.
So tell us then how it is you came to that conclusion. Typically that would be a statement made in comparison to other, similarly situated politicians.
So go ahead Drive By - you got anything other than your own personal conclusions?
See what I did there AF? I was not the one who asserted that she is worthless. In fact being an active member, voting and participating could be defined by itself as not 'worthless.'
Which is a little different from say a certain former senator that voted present more often than not.
Voting present is kinda the opposite of doing your job, right AF. Go tell you boss you are here, but are not going to do anything today. See how that goes.
i knwo Drive By's boss would be tickled.
The senators and representatives working on the jobs bill alone even though not passed have done way more for the country than Bachwoman
Well she is a Lawyer. You know birds of a feather...
Psst: devie - so is President Awesome.
What now brown cow?
Happy hour in 45 minutes. Yeah!
Spanky, you're a smart guy, so I'm sure you realize how this particular debate isn't quite a level playing field, lol.
Okay, I've had it with these Republican candidates. Right here and now, I'm joining the Republican Party and throwing my hat in the ring for the presidency. My platform:
If we had diplomatic relations with Iran, I'd close the embassy.
If we were at war with Canada, I'd stop it.
If we gave tax breaks to the child pornography industry, I'd end that.
Thank you, God bless, and God bless the United States of America!
How much longer do we have to hear from this woman!? She'd not presidential material, never was, never will be. She makes a mockery of our election process and hasn't a chance in Hell of being elected!
What better way to extinguish a growing scandal over what is an outrageous gaffe than to blatantly lie about it? Ms. Bachmann did not mention a "hypothetical" situation. She flatly said that she would pull out the "US embassy" currently in Iran, which is totally false. That a high-ranking member of Congress does not know such a basic piece of information and then has the nerve to attack the president on foreign policy is mind boggling. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
The President said there was a break in at the "English" embassy. Great Britain is far more than just England, of course.
That a [President] does not know such a basic piece of information is mind boggling. Right, moonbat?
So it's not England's embassy ? Is that what you are saying? because that is a lot different than saying we will close are embassy in a country that took hostages when they raided ours over 30 years ago and we haven't had true diplomatic relations with them since then...And she is on a commitee that has something to do with issues like that isn't she ? The point is she can't even handle the job she has now........PLease vote for her.....
And where is your source for this Mr. Moonbat?
On both issues I'm pretty sure they both deserve a pass.
I have a couple of friends in England that I met while in the service. I asked them one day what the difference was between being English and being British. Mostly when someone from England is in England they state they are English. While someone from England who is abroad states that they are British. It was at most a slip of the tounge for President Obama.
A bit of speculation on this one. Mrs. Bachman more than likely 'meant' that she would not have an embassy in Iran ever with the current regime. Again a slip of the tounge that people are wanting to wail about.
Such a non issue really. Amazing.
"If I'm President I promise we won't do something that we're probably not going to do anyway!"
Way to take a stand!
Following the Congresswoman's example, I ask that everyone please post a promise not to do something that you weren't going to do in the first place here.
I'll start...
I promise never to get an abortion!
I promise to never take a pledge to promise not to promise.
I promise.
I promise to leave bachmann alone on this one...HAAAAAA
I have yet to figure out who is the dumbest, Bachmann or Perry.
L'Hôpital's rule.
I promise never to vote for a republican.
Americans First-3238795, I used to think I was a Republican back in the late 90's while I was serving in the Marines.
GW Bush invaded Iraq without cause, fabricating proof of WMD for all, and he fooled most of us- the congress, the international community. We spent our blood and treasure in Iraq looking for the WMD, there was none. We have taken Iraq, a regional counter force to Iran, and turned them into Iran's new ally. For that, I blame Bush.
Bush cut taxes on the richest of the rich while we waged our two wars, while our deficit ballooned. For that, I blame Bush.
He and the Republicans of the day slashed wall street regulations, regulations that basically kept banks and wall street firms from RAPING people. When the chips fell on wall street he took taxpayer money, yours and mine, and gave it to the banks. For that, I do not blame today's republicans, I blame those in power then.
Now we have this circus of candidates competing for the Republican nomination. They espouse many of the same failed views of Bush. They are perhaps more uncurious and thoughtless than that man... if that were even possible.
This Bachmann woman, she comes across as the queen of the Fixed News Dumb Faux. If i were to still vote republican I would get to choose between and idiot, an idiot cheating womanizer, a Fannie May employee, glutton, cheating womanizer, or a flip-flopping religious zealot. With this bunch of clowns I think Lincoln would vote for Obama.
"You may have heard that there was a break-in at the British embassy" , said Bachman.
At least she got that right...
The President said there was a break- in at the "English" embassy. Sloppy error.
Forgivable, of course...unless a Republican said it.
No one cares but you Bob. English, British brings nit-picking to a new level.
Do like your Nobody But Obama logo.
Source please Bob because I would like to see for myself ...Since it is coming from the side who says Obama said all americans are lazy and he doesn't want to talk about the economy or he will lose...
Not like it matters because that is England's embassy and all..
Well first of all sw philly, England is PART of Britain. That's like saying it's Florida's Embassy. It's the British Embassy. Do you know the difference between United Kingdom and Great Britain? It's really not a big deal, but it's funny that FR loves to slam people for gaffes, but god forbid if Obama does it, that's a big no-no.
It's real easy to find it on the internet, there's even a video of Obama saying it. But it really doesn't matter know does it?
The level of bias against this woman is absurd!
Her comment, when taken in proper context, which rarely happens on MSNBC or the usual Leftist rags, was that if she were in charge in the UK, she wouldn't have had an embassy in Iran in the first place.
We (the U.S) don't! She knows it and you know she knows it, so stop with the lies and BS!
If you'd actually listen to her in her own words in complete context, you may find her be the incredibly, strong, honest, intelligent, and dedicated leader that she is.
Bachmann 2012 for constitutional, limited government, free markets, personal liberty and responsibility!
Proper context you say?? Well, your comment got me curious so I watched her make the statement. She said "You may have heard that there was a break-in at the British embassy and the British had to pull their people out. That's exactly what I would do, we wouldn't have an American embassy in Iran." QED.
She was speaking in plain English, there is no ambiguity or argument, she would not have an American embassy in Iran. And you know what, we don't, haven't since the late 70's.
Sorry Libertycat, your wrong.
Please support Michele Bachmann. She is the gift that keeps on giving and 2012 would not be the same without her.
Whether you like her or hate her, Bachmann brings the biggest laughs to the political process. Let us all encourage her to continue. Comic relief is much evident in this republican process. None do it as well as Bachmann.
Go Bachmann 2012.
I'm sorry to intrude on this joyful hatefest, but, someone please remind me how many states there are in the US and also the proper pronunciation of "coprsman," etc...etc...etc...
Thanks...
The media, and Obama's paid trolls, are onn 24/7 Bachmann watch for the most trivial gaffes and non-gaffres, but the really serious gaffes by Obama are ignored. Bachmann has made fewer misstatements than the average politician. However, Team Obama media jackals have made a career of perverting and distorting her statements to turn them into gaffes. These Team Obama jackals have ignored Obama's continual lies and gaffes, to wit:
Barack Obama said that he campaigned "in all 57 states;" that our country was founded "20 centuries ago;" pronounced Navy Corpsman "corpseman;" called "Austrian" a foreign language; and referred to "The President of Canada" and to Europe as "a country." Speaking in Hawaii, Obama said "Here in Asia..."
There are 50 States in the USA. But there are 57 Muslim States in the world: a Freudian slip by Barack Hussein Obama.
More significantly, Obama lied about his relationship with convicted terrorist Bill Ayers, whom Obama called "some guy in the neighborhood." Ayers was an early Obama political supporter. Obama began his campaign for the Illinois State Senate at a fundraiser at Ayers' house.
Please, President Obama never said that the American people are lazy, but don't let the facts get in the way of your argument. As is obvious in this string, the only defense and offense for that matter is to try and change the subject. Really, if her supporters weren't so intellectually l-a-z-y, she'd have n-o supporters/defenders.
SHE IS AN IDIOT! There, we have clarified her statement.