Republican Congresswoman and Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann’s announcement on Wednesday that she is not running for re-election marks the end of a four-term congressional career full of vicious attacks from liberal journalists.
Over those years Bachmann’s outspoken defense of fiscally and socially conservative issues drew the ire of the liberal media elites. From Lois Romano depicting her as a "maniacal" "knife-wielding" ideologue in an unflattering Newsweek cover story to Chris Matthews demeaning her as a "hypnotized" "zombie" so-called journalists have repeatedly bashed Bachmann and the conservative causes she fought for.
The following is a list of the Top 10 Most Vicious Anti-Bachmann quotes from the MRC’s archive:
10. Bachmann is the ‘Queen of Crap’
Dylan Ratigan: “Up next, institutionalizing the tea party, interesting. Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann spearheading a campaign to create a House Tea Party Caucus. Bachman filing paperwork yesterday to found the caucus herself and become its chairwoman. She says the informal group would be dedicated to promoting tea party ideals like fiscal responsibility and limited government. Then again, the tea partiers were nowhere when it came to ending the mass extraction in Wall Street, so I think they’re actually full of crap. But they have nice words. For a moment, however - for a movement, however, that prides itself on having no formal ties to the federal government, forget the aspect of being full of crap when it comes to the banking system, why are the Republican Party members and tea party members so receptive to getting together? Cenk, what’s going on here?”
Cenk Uygur, host of MSNBC’s Young Turks: “Well, you took the words right out of my mouth. She is so full of crap. I mean, she might be the queen of crap. What is she talking about? All she’s ever done is protected the bankers. And these tea party guys, ‘rah, rah, let’s cut taxes.’ Obama already cut taxes for making under a quarter of a million dollars. So I guess the tea party movement, in essence, is actually about protecting the richest people in America. Wow, what a populist movement you have there.”
— MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan Show, July 16, 2010.
9. Are Bachmann Voters ‘Allergic to Brains?’
“So far, it is a couple of intellectual lightweights that are stealing the show. Since Michele Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll and Rick Perry entered the race, these two have been sucking up most of the media’s attention, mostly for saying stupid stuff....That’s a sad commentary on the state of our politics, isn’t it? Here’s the question: When it comes to presidential politics, why does America seem to be allergic to brains?”
— CNN’s Jack Cafferty on The Situation Room, August 24, 2011.
8. Bachmann is a ‘Barbie With Fangs’
“When you get right down to it, he [Jon Huntsman] and Mitt Romney are the two Ken dolls in the Republican race. You got Michele Bachmann who is Barbie with fangs. [Laughter] I mean, it’s — the field itself is just sort of a, like a caricature. There’s no substance.”
— The Washington Post’s Colbert King on Inside Washington, June 25, 2011.
7. Who Is Going to Vote for ‘Crazy’ Bachmann?
Kyra Phillips: “Meanwhile, the two of you agree on one thing, a mutual winner. And that is the President Barack Obama. L.Z., give us the 15-second why. I’ll let Will do the same thing.”
LZ Granderson: “Well, it’s obvious, right? I mean, Michele Bachmann does not appear to be someone who can be a true candidate in a general election. So, as horrible as his numbers have been, his approval rating is, as horrible as what we saw on Wall Street was, he wins because if Michele Bachmann actually comes out ahead in this, the people aren’t going to vote for crazy. And she still registers as crazy with a lot of independents.”
Phillips: “Oh, I don’t know. If you could go back decades, there’s a lot of people who vote for crazy, guys. That seems to be part of the political norm. And, Will, you agree, President Obama coming out a winner as well?”
— Discussion about GOP primary candidates aired during CNN live coverage on August 15, 2011.
6. So What If the Newsweek Cover Is Unfair to Bachmann?
“That photo just made her kind of look kind of crazy. But, I mean, it would be inappropriate if Michele Bachmann actually didn’t occasionally make that crazy eyes look.... I think, in a way, it captures the persona that Michele Bachmann has kind of embodied, sort of the wild Tea Party lady.”
— Joy-Ann Reid, managing editor of the NBC-owned Web site TheGrio.com and an ex-Obama campaign operative discussing unflattering Newsweek cover photo of Bachmann, on MSNBC’s Martin Bashir, August 9, 2011.
5. Matthews: Bachmann’s Praise for the Founders Equals ‘Slavery’
Chris Matthews: “Here she is, Michele Bachmann, the congressman [sic], in her announcement speech this morning in Waterloo, Iowa. Let’s listen.”
Michele Bachmann: “I want my candidacy for the presidency of the United States to stand for a moment when we, the people, stand once again for the independence from a government that has gotten too big and spends too much and has taken away too much of our liberties. Government thinks it knows better. Government thinks it knows better how to spend our money. Government thinks it knows better how to make a better life for us. They think they create jobs. They even think they can make us healthier, but that’s not the case. We have to recapture the Founders’ vision of a constitutionally conservative government if we are to secure the promise for the future.”
Matthews: “What is this, Michael? The Protestant Reformation? That somehow we’re going back to the purity of the original Christian church ? We’re going back to the original perfection of slaveholders and how perfect they were and government is the enemy. She speaks pure Tea Party lingo.”
— MSNBC’s Hardball, June 27, 2011
4. MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts: Bachmann Wants to ‘Extinguish’ Gays
Thomas Roberts: “Well, that is something that affects everybody across this country. It doesn’t have to be - it doesn’t have to be with the LGBT community, it talks about all Americans. But I do want to talk about what GOProud is doing in reaching out an invitation to Michele Bachmann to take a meeting. Where does that stand right now? Has the Bachmann camp gotten back to you? Will they meet with you?”
Jimmy Lasalvia, Executive Director of gay conservative group GOProud: “Well, at this point we are having a dialogue with them. And when there’s something to report, I’ll let you know. You know, we’re reaching out to all of the presidential candidates because, frankly, gay Americans are living in the Obama economy too, and it’s important that we beat him next November and replace this failed president. So we’re reaching out -“
Roberts: “But you will replace him with a person that would extinguish you. You’re replacing him with a person that doesn’t believe that that you have a right in this country to get married, that believes you don’t even have a right in this country to be gay because she co-owns a clinic that will convert you.”
— During MSNBC live coverage, July 22, 2011.
3. Newsweek Crowns Bachmann as ‘Queen of Rage’
“In Iowa, where she was raised, [Representative Michele] Bachmann has become the living embodiment of the Tea Party. She and her allies have been called a maniacal gang of knife-wielding ideologues. That’s hyperbole, of course. But the principled rigidity of her position has created some challenges for her campaign....Far more damaging than the charge of double standards may be the growing realization among Americans of just how radical the Tea Party movement really is....For now, Bachmann revels in the Iowa crowds, which don’t fuss about the missing fine print behind her ideas, the perceived contradictions among them, or their radicalism.”
— Newsweek’s Lois Romano in the magazine’s August 15, 2011 cover story on Bachmann headlined “The Queen of Rage.”
2. Is Boris Karloff Giving Orders to ‘Zombie’ Bachmann?
Chris Matthews: “Let’s listen to Michele Bachmann, your new boss. By the way she may be a zombie answering to somebody out there - Boris Karloff, I don’t know who’s giving her orders - but here she is on the debt ceiling. Let’s listen to her.”
Clip of Michele Bachmann: “I am not in favor of raising the debt ceiling. As a matter of fact, I have a petition that I’m urging people to sign at MichelePAC.com to urge their member of Congress not to raise the debt ceiling.”
Matthews: “Do you hear that? Who does she get her orders from?”
— Matthews to GOP strategist Todd Harris on Hardball, January 4, 2011.
1. Election Night Rudeness: Is Bachmann Hypnotized?
Chris Matthews: “Congresswoman Bachmann, are you hypnotized tonight? Has someone hypnotized you? Because no matter what I ask you, you give the same answer. Are you hypnotized? Has someone put you under a trance tonight? That you give me the same answer no matter what question I put to you?”
Rep. Michele Bachmann: “I think the American people are the ones that are finally speaking tonight. We’re coming out of our trance....I think people are thrilled tonight. I imagine that thrill is probably maybe quite not so tingly on your leg anymore.”
— From MSNBC’s election night coverage, November 2, 2010.
EXTRA: Celebrities Attack
Maher Calls Bachmann Retarded
“And Michele Bachmann is not backing down on this issue. You know, Rick Perry stole her thunder so she’s mad at him. So she said that after the debate where this came up, she had a discussion with a woman who came to her after the debate and said that her daughter had taken the vaccine and become from the vaccine mentally retarded. And Michele Bachmann said,’ ‘Mom?’”
— Bill Maher on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, September 16, 2011.
Maher: Bachmann is a ‘MILF - Moron I’d Like to Forget’
“They’re attractive, especially to the Republican Party, which is not known as a party that really does well with the opposite sex. Usually they’re doughy white men, and I think they look on Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, as you know, MILFs. And I agree - they’re morons I’d like to forget.”
— Bill Maher on MSNBC’s Hardball, April 14, 2010.
Actor Martin Short Attacks ‘Taliban’-like Bachmann
“I always feel that the only difference between Michele Bachmann and the Taliban is the Taliban don’t marry their beards. ... And she was not bright enough to be President, don’t you agree? She thinks ‘soy milk’ is Spanish for ‘I am milk.’ This is not someone who should be, she’s just not, hey, I did some writin’ for this show.”
— Actor Martin Short on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, June 4, 2012.
-- Geoffrey Dickens is the Deputy Research Director at the Media Research Center. Click here [1] to follow Geoffrey Dickens on Twitter.