Towards the end of the 2008 campaign, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews, where she said that she was "very concerned that" then-candidate Barack Obama "may have anti-American views." Bachmann then called for an investigation into whether members of Congress held "anti-American" views. Following a withering storm of criticism, Bachmann tried to claim that Matthews tricked her into saying what she said and that she wasn't saying Obama's views were anti-American:
HOST: You do feel his [Obama's] views are anti-American?
BACHMANN: I feel his views are concerning. I'm calling on the media to investigate them. I'm not saying that his views are anti-American. That was a misreading of what I said. And so I don't believe that's my position. I'm calling on the media to take a look at what his views are.
But at a closed-press fundraiser for the anti-abortion rights Susan B. Anthony List last night, Bachmann reclaimed — and bragged about — her past questioning of Obama's patriotism, comparing herself to Nostradamus:
Bachmann also said that her controversial remarks of more than a year ago – in which she called Obama "anti-American" and suggested members of Congress be investigated for "anti-American activities" – have proven prophetic.
"I said I had very serious concerns that Barack Obama had anti-American views," she said. "And now I look like Nostradamus."
Bachmann's admission that she did question Obama's love of America isn't surprising. Even as she was trying to walk back her comments in 2008 while speaking to traditional media outlets, Bachmann couldn't help but double down on them when speaking to right-wing radio hosts. "What I question are Barack Obama's views," Bachmann told Hugh Hewitt. "Because Barack Obama's views are against America."
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