CNN's Carol Costello asked Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) on Tuesday if she "regretted" following God's "edict" to run for President. In an interview around the top of the 8 a.m. hour of American Morning, Costello had mentioned that Bachmann, in her new memoir "Core of Conviction," wrote that she had prayed to discern God's will before choosing to run for President.
"So I just wanted to ask you if you regretted following that edict," Costello pressed the candidate.
Bachmann shot down the notion of an "edict" from God. "Not at all, it's not an edict," she told the CNN host. "We're Christians, we pray about our decisions. And we're very happy that we did."
"So it's not too much," Costello followed up, presumably referring to the stress of the campaign.
Costello, as she had done Monday with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), also tried to convince candidate Bachmann of a certain point concerning the super committee. "Your job is not to convince me," Kyl had told Costello a day earlier when she admittedly couldn't convince him that Republicans in the super committee had not offered enough tax revenue increases.
Costello continued her habits Tuesday after Bachmann called the super committee a "ridiculous idea" and said she never would have allowed it as President. "But that was the reality that we faced right now," Costello lectured the Tea Party congresswoman. Bachmann disagreed. "But we did. It's reality," Costello furthered.
[Video below. Click here [1] for audio.]
A transcript of the segment, which aired on November 22 at 8:09 a.m. EST, is follows:
[8:09]
CAROL COSTELLO: Specifically the super committee. How would you have gone and said –
Rep. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-Minn.), GOP presidential candidate: I would have never done the super committee. It's a ridiculous idea.
COSTELLO: But that was the reality that we faced right now. So –
BACHMANN: No, we didn't have to do it. See that's the problem with –
COSTELLO: But we did. It's reality.
(...)
COSTELLO: Well, would you have said something like, hey Republicans on the super committee, maybe you should think about maybe raising some taxes and hey Democrats, maybe you should think about, you know, cutting some entitlement programs. Maybe if you're both open to those ideas, maybe you can come to some sort of compromise. Would you have said something like that?
(...)
COSTELLO: I was going to ask you, because you say in this book that when you were deciding to run for President, you got together with your husband Marcus, and you prayed. And God said, God gave you the message that you should serve your country. So I just wanted to ask you if you regretted following that edict.
BACHMANN: Not at all, it's not an edict. We're Christians, we pray about our decisions. And we're very happy that we did.
COSTELLO: So it's not too much.
BACHMANN: No, not at all. It's – what a wonderful opportunity.
- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center