For someone who began her political career mixing fundamentalist religion and public policy, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has done a decent job keeping questions about her faith at bay during her presidential campaign.
Until now.
Speaking to a crowd in Florida over the weekend, Bachmann said the historic earthquake and massive hurricane that rocked the East Coast last week was a message that God is upset with the way politicians in Washington have been doing things. The interview with the St. Petersburg Times grabbed the quote:
She hailed the tea party as being common-sense Americans who understand government shouldn’t spend more than it takes in, know they’re taxed enough already and want government to abide by the Constitution.“I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, ‘Are you going to start listening to me here?’ Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we’ve got to rein in the spending.”
Emphasis added. Bachmann’s comments put her closer to Pat Robertson’s take on the week than her most prominent rivals for the Republican nomination.
Team Bachmann says the line wasn’t meant to be taken seriously.
“Obviously she was saying it in jest,” campaign spokesperson Alice Stewart told TPM.
Bachmann’s comments came on a campaign swing through Florida that included a stop at the Idlewild Baptist megachurch. Her escort was Peter Waldron, Bachmann’s “faith outreach coordinator” who has raised his own set of questions for her campaign.
Here’s a video of Bachmann’s visit made by the the Times:
This post has been updated with the response from the Bachmann campaign.
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