Michele Bachmann Under Fire For Obama Anti-American Comment
Bachmann dials back criticism of Obama on MSNBC's Hardball
Last Edited: Monday, 20 Oct 2008, 9:11 AM CDT
Created: Sunday, 19 Oct 2008, 5:50 PM CDT
MINNEAPOLIS -- Michele Bachmann is clarifying her statement made Friday on MSNBC that Barack Obama "may have anti-American views."
Bachmann, a first-term Republican, is up for reelection in Minnesota's 6th District.
Bachmann campaign statement
A Bachmann campaign spokeswoman released the following statement Sunday.
"This has all been a political spin version of the children's game of telephone." And Bachmann, "never called all liberals anti-Americans, but that's what the media hype has turned it into."
Joining the race
Monday, more opponents took aim at Bachmann, including St. John's University professor Aubrey Immelman, a fellow Republican who is reviving his campaign as a write-in opponent.
Immelman, a Republican from Sartell, Minn., lost to Bachmann in the Republican primary in September. He says he wants his candidacy to be a Republican referendum on Bachmann and the direction the party has taken the country.
Joining the fight
3rd District Democratic candidate Ashwin Madia also used Bachmann’s comments in an attempt to build-up his own campaign.
Madia issued the following statement regarding recent Bachmann’s comment on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:
"Representative Michele Bachmann's comments represent the very worst in American politics. Our country faces incredible challenges today. The American people seek and deserve much better from their elected officials.
Gridlock in Washington is crippling our country. I'm running for Congress to change that. I want to work with members of both parties to find solutions and get our economy back on track. Unfortunately, the divisiveness of Representative Bachmann's comments last Friday, and in the past, is exactly what prevents that from happening.”
SUNDAY: Big money and damage control
After the comments on MSNBC, campaign donations poured in for opponent Elwyn Tinklenberg.
His campaign announced that he has raised $640,000 since Friday night.
"They're coming in from all over the country. I think we've had donations from almost every state in the union," says Tinklenberg. "No one expected we would be in a position to go dollar for dollar with an incumbent congressperson, and at this point in the race, that's what we're able to do.”
Damage control on ‘CCO
Bachmann appeared on WCCO Sunday to say she didn't mean Obama's views are anti-American. She says, "That was a misreading of what I said."
Clarifying the statement, she said the Democratic presidential nominee's views are "concerning" and deserve more media attention.
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