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James Novogrod / NBC News
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., addresses reporters Saturday in Estherville, Iowa, where she was campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination.
ALGONA, Iowa – A feud inside the GOP presidential field provoked Michele Bachmann to defend her hard line on Iran on Saturday while insisting that she doesn't "hate Muslims."
Bachmann repeated variations on that phrase in at least three cities during her 99 county bus tour of Iowa.
"I don't hate Muslims. I love the American people. And as president of the United States, my goal will be to keep America safe, free, and sovereign," Bachmann told reporters Saturday morning in Estherville.
The unusually personal self-defense is the latest element in a back-and-forth with U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, who criticized Bachmann on national television Friday night.
Appearing on NBC's "Tonight Show," Paul said Bachmann "doesn’t like" Muslims.
"She hates Muslims," Paul added. "She wants to go get 'em."
The origins of the feud go back to Thursday's Fox News debate, in Sioux City, where Paul and Bachmann locked horns over how to handle the prospect of a nuclear Iran.
"There's war propaganda going on," Paul said of pronouncements among the GOP about confronting the threat.
"To me, the greatest danger is that we will have a president that will overreact and we will soon bomb Iran," he added.
Kevin Winter / NBCuniversal / Getty Images Contributor
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul appears on the "Tonight Show With Jay Leno" Friday at NBC Studios in Burbank, Calif.
Asked to reply, Bachmann said: "I think I have never heard a more dangerous answer for American security than the one that we just heard from Ron Paul."
She later added that the idea of not confronting Iran amounts to "the greatest under-reaction in world history."
(Bachmann's plan on Iran, unveiled in November, does not call for an immediate strike, but recommends "crushing" sanctions and covert activity to destabilize the regime.)
On Saturday, Bachmann used Paul's charge that she "hates" Muslims to advance her own assertions about Iran's leaders.
"Where the true hatred is coming from is the president of Iran and the mullahs," Bachmann told reporters in Algona.
"They’ve said unequivocally that they want to obtain a nuclear weapon for the express purpose of using it against our ally, Israel, to kill the Jews," she said, adding: "They also want to use it against the United States and kill Americans."
Related story: Pickets swarm Lowe's in Arab-American Michigan community for pulling ads from Muslim TV show
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Michele Bachmann is acting very guilty
FOX FNC is doing damage control too
Stop trying to sell more mass-murder!
There is no need for damage control, Ron Paul is a straight up LIAR.
Ahmadinejad is not Khomeini
Submitted by slpd6000ts on Fri, 12/16/2011 - 16:22.
It is irresponsible and dangerous for Bachmann or Santorum to make the claim that the current leadership in Iran is exactly the same thing as the leadership in Iran 25 years ago. Sadly, those who support them believe them as do many of those who support Romney, Gingrich, & Perry.
The myth that Ahmadinejad has expressed a direct military threat toward Israel stems from false associations to Amadinejad’s professorial readings to students of the published words of the Ayatollah Khomeini in a historical context within an lecture on the topic of the Islamic Revolution at an institution of higher learning. All Dr. Ahmadinejad ever did was lecture to students regarding the mindset surrounding a time in history those kids were too young to remember.
The warmongers have distorted this fact to instead mean that words spoken 25 years ago by another man are in fact the same thing as the current President of Iran’s views and mindset today.
Just last night, Sean Hannity made the claim during his interview with Dr. Paul(without giving Paul sufficient time to correct the host) that Ahmadinejad is a ‘Holocaust Denier’. Of course, such a claim even if true, would not by any stretch justify going to war yet this claim itself is also baseless.
When Andrea Mitchell (Mrs. Alan Greenspan) of NBC News interviewed Dr. Ahmadinejad, and asked him about his perspective on the holocaust this rumor was then started simply because Andrea Mitchell was given by President Ahmadinejad, a perspective which did not agree with her own and she herself irrationally took that opportunity to imply that Ahmadinejad was denying that 6 million Jews died during WWII.
Dr. Ahmadinejad did nothing of the sort but Mrs. Greenspan simply did not care for his tone when he correctly pointed out that not just 6 million Jews were caused to die during WWII but in fact 60 million people were caused to die during WWII and that war itself is a bad thing and should be avoided.
Mrs. Greenspan again asked him for his sympathy for the deaths of 6 million Jews and Ahmadinejad then pointed out that 34 million non-Jewish civilians were also caused to die during WWII and none of their descendants were awarded an entire country as compensation for those deaths at the expense of land belonging to people who were not at all responsible for anything to do with the original conflict or the deaths of Jews thousands of miles away in Europe.
Andrea Mitchell might not have liked the tone of that answer but such a statement is not by any means a denial of the Jewish Holocaust and certainly not a justification for The US removing the current regime in Iran.
W
Who is the liar?????/
Is there someone running who's not?
This is too rich. Two "go nowhere" GOP Presidential candidates sparring over whether one "hates" Muslims. No further comment necessary.
Oh, all the GOP candidates love Muslims!! That is too funny!! Republicans the gift that keeps on giving!! Ha Ha!!
Every candidate has a purpose and Bachmann's is to make the rest of the field of GOP clowns look intelligent.
adrift2, then you must be the Class Clown
Ooh, quite the burn, there. Guess stclaire told you, adrift2.
she would totally impose a burka ban.
What she meant to say is that, I don't hate Muslims. I just don't want them in my country, and I don't think they should be able to build a place of worship. She also forgot to add her feelings about Gays, Hispanics, and Poor people. I wonder did I miss anyone she has a problem with.
When did Michele Bachman tell you all of this?
i've got it. She doesn't hate all Muslims. She hates all Iranians! :-)
And Michele Bachman told you this also?
When people talk about who Bacmann likes and doesn`t like, noone mentioned the celtic people. Does she dilike Irish? Scots? Welsh? We are not anglo-saxon, tho many people think so. If you disagree, go into a pub in Ireland or Scotland and call them a bunch of anglosaxons and see how long you stay in there.
That vision of her bobbing up and down on stage and dancing with her weird master keeps coming back to me. Put a burka on it Michee.
adrift2, since you can not tell the truth you should put a burka on yourself.
P.S. Can someone explain to me why the Christian-Rightists are all such strong supporters of Israel? I thought they all hated Jews because they "killed Christ."
PEDAGOGUISH: A very good question. For ages the Right was anti Semitic until the advent of all the evangelical crazies who are waiting for the Rapture and want to ensure Israel is not occupied by the Arabs. These are the same folks who 30 or 40 years ago would never allow a Jew to join their country club, if you know what I mean.
They've decided that they had Muslims more than they hate Jews so all of a sudden they're in love with those that they used to scorn.
Howya figure to win Florida if you cuddle with Muslims?
There is a saying in Arabic: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Ironically, it seems to apply to the right wingers and Israel.
Republicans make a Handsome Living on Scapegoats.
Who will tomorrows Scapegoats be, Teachers, Fireman, Policeman, Gays, Crosseyed Granddaughters, Blacks, Welfare Queens, The Working Poor, Undocumented Labor, Labor Unions, Baton Twirlers, Etc, Etc, Etc...
TED: Hey wait a minute buddy. I really take exception to your post. How dare you leave out Socialists & and the all important "Commie" Red baiting talk??? No rabid Right Wing demagoguery would be complete without these two critical categories.
Ted, you have to watch out for those mushroom clouds an WMD
Well Commies are in Vogue now, we send all the Jobs to Red China because they are better Businessman then Capitalist America, they employ all their People, like we used to.
Just go into any Walmart or any Big Box Store and you will see all the American made products...
We should all hate jihadists.
Can she see Iran from her window? Perhaps, she should consider moving to Alaska and live next door to you-know-who! They'll make good neighbors.
But steve 1928076 - when did the leader ship of Iran say that they wanted a nuclear weapon so they could kill Israelis and Americans? In fact where are they on record as saying they want a nucler weapon?
What's wrong with hating Muslims? Lots of people here have no problem hating Christians...
FILTHY: Yea sure. In our culture, Christians are but a tiny oppressed minority, right? I mean, look at all the Christians who are denied the right to purchase a house in certain neighborhoods or are turned down for acceptance into Ivy League schools. It's a crying shame I tell you. Muslims living here in the States have things so much easier.
So, move to a Muslim country and see how well a Christian, Jew, Hindu, Atheist, etc is treated. And tell me where you see Muslims being oppressed in the US...they are growing in numbers as well as the number of Mosques being built.
Your comment is a straw man, easily torn apart.
FILTHY: Are you telling me that there are intolerant and violent Muslims? That does not exactly come as a shock to me.
However, we are supposed to be the good guys, remember? This is American buddy where it's not supposed to matter where you came from, what your ethnicity is or what religion you choose or don't choose to practice. I suggest that you go back and study a bit of our history. Most of the ethnic groups that arrived here were initially treated like dirt. The Irish were considered sub human, then the Italians and then the Jews. Is that how you want our country to be?
You feel this way about them because their culture seems so foreign to us. Listen, there's much about it that I don't particularly love but how about treating each of them as individuals, not some band of lepers. Are you aware that there are many Muslims serving in our armed forces and that some of them have given their lives for this country? I say that, that is enough to qualify them as equals amongst other Americans.
So you are saying that you don't see any bigotry being directed towards them? Is that why every time a new Mosque is proposed people get all crazy about it? I don't think you really believe that when you say there is no hatred directed towards them. The evidence to the contrary is all around you. Lastly, it was George Bush (to his credit) who repeatedly said that Americans should not hold the attacks against all the good Muslims who live in our country.
Intrepid - The problem is that the Islam religion is all about hatred, bigotry and intolerance for infidels (non-believers). If u don't believe me, check out the Quran.
Give it up Bachmann, Alfred E. Newman stands a better chance than you do!!!!!
There are no gay muslims. Just ask AmMadInTheHead
INTREPID: Thanks for the explanation. I get it now. The Evangelicals have to be in Israel when the Rapture comes because God isn't taking anyone up from Orange county or Houston.
PEDAGOGUISH: LOL :)
Hard to believe this idiot is still trying to run for President. Watchdog website says 73% of the things she says are not true.
ADRON2: You know what your problem is??? You're a glass half empty kind of guy.
What about the 27% of her drivel that are not complete lies and distortions but rather, only half truths???
I was under the impression that her husband not be ...ah....heterosexual? Maybe that isn't true but you sure don't see much of him.
ROB: How dare you cast aspersions about her husband. Just because he's so obviously and prancing, mincing queen who runs a clinic that "prays away the gay" does not mean that he is not 110% pure blooded heterosexual. LOL You can't make this stuff up, now can you???
Michelle, good Christians are not supposed to lie. You lied about Iran's Constitution, you lied about statements from Iran's leader, you support torture and indefinite confinement at Gitmo, you are perfectly all right with murdering US citizens if they are Muslims critical of the United States. You compare Ron Paul with Neville Chamberlain, when Paul's policies toward Iran are the same as George W. Bush's when he was President. Tell me, Michelle, if spy Jonathan Pollard escaped and was granted asylum in Israel, how would you react if Barack Obama sent in a Predator Drone to take Pollard act. I'm pretty certain we all know the answer to that.
,'-D
Ron Paul tells it like it is!
what Republican doesn't hate Muslims? We are forced to listen to their christian propagandism ad nauseum and are constantly reminded it's their way or the highway to hell.
Michele Bachmann just got her 12th Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire from Politifact.
She doesn't have any Credibility, just a Shiny Campaign Bus...
I get a kick out all the people that call Iran the most dangerous nation in the world, when the Last time I looked the US was the only nation waging war thousands of miles from their shores. Like one of the other post stated, we attacked Iraq killing over 100,000 innocent Iraqi's using a pack of lies. And all you hear out of these radical GOP candidates is how if elected president they will attack another middle east country. Nothing like advertising your intentions. If one of these Republican nuts somehow make it to the presidency, our enemy's will surely be ready for the onslaught! Wino's!!!
Sand turns to glass when exposed to high temps. Why don't you just move your azz to Syria, Mike?
,'-D
Angry,
I would be more concerned about Chinas first Aircraft Carrier that was just Spotted the other Day by Satellite.
You do know that we have Highly paid Professional Adults who constantly monitor threats around the world?
What do you think Michele Bachmann (The Flamethrower) has to offer the real Professionals?
Probably more than a community organizer surrounded by libtard America blamers.
Well, Angry white conservative I don't have to move to Syria because when it came time to fight for our country I went to Vietnam and did my part unlike a bunch of weasels that used deferrmets to avoid doing their duty. And just like Vienam the Iraq war was dead wrong. And I'll tell you one more thing, Saddam Hussein was a Sunni and he kept Iran in check. Now there is a Shia government thanks to the Bush administration that is alined with Iran and it's only a matter of time before they link up and believe me they won't be friendly to white Christians!! Thanks, George and Dick!!
Thank you for your service, you have my respect and I'm for one am sorry that 53,000+ Americans gave up the ghost in that defacto war with China. Total waste of blood and treasure.
Eh, they don't care. Cheney got what he wanted and Bush never knew what was actually going on.