Rep. Michele Bachmann in the earlier WQAD interview.
Rep. Michele Bachmann in the earlier WQAD interview.

Iowa reporters snubbed for asking Bachmann about ex-gay therapy

By Jon Collins
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 1:03 pm

Reporters from an Iowa TV station say staff for Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann denied them access because they’d questioned the congresswoman about reparative therapy at Christian counseling centers run by her husband, Marcus Bachmann.

A July undercover investigation by Truth Wins Out, an LGBT activist organization, confirmed that Bachmann’s clinic practiced the so-called “ex-gay” therapy, which Bachmann and her husband had previously denied.

When a reporter from WQAD in Davenport, IA, raised the issue during a satellite interview two weeks ago, Bachmann’s staff threatened to end the interview.

“[I]t got ugly. In the News 8 control room, campaign staffers threatened WQAD producers that they would cut off the feed if Rae Chelle repeated the question. A follow-up question was asked on the issue. The Congresswoman’s answers were aired nationally on ABC World News Tonight and Nightline.”

When Bachmann was back in town Sunday, WQAD reporters said they were promised a one-on-one interview. Instead, they said they were “openly” and “aggressively” denied access.

“One of her staffers said, ‘due to the interview last week WQAD would not have an interview.’ He said we would have to get our audio from a pool camera.

When another television station conducted an interview, they ran into the same problem, said WQAD’s Chuck McClurg.

The reporter asked a question about Bachmann’s clinic and her husband. At that point, McClurg says the staffer took the microphone off of Bachmann, tossed it to the reporter and said their interview was over.

Hat tip: Think Progress.

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Comments

17 Comments

Jeff Wilfahrt
Comment posted July 26, 2011 @ 1:58 pm

I’m old enough to remember when my kid sister got one of the new talking Barbie dolls. Listening to Big Hair Bad Makeup Bachmann is like pulling the string and getting one canned line after the other… “I’m running for president… blah blah blah”, of course Barbie did not have a titanium spine, but eventually my sister did pop the head off… oh if only.

Jeff Wilfahrt, Rosemount, MN


M Grumpe
Comment posted July 26, 2011 @ 2:01 pm

Something is not right in the head with her. Creepy.Very Creepy.


Kevin
Comment posted July 26, 2011 @ 2:07 pm

What is so worrisome to me is that Bachmann hasn’t been laughed or kicked out of the country by now. This witch has a following and a BIG ONE. None of her recent or past antics seem to be affecting her at all. What in the hell is happening to this country? How can someone as disgusting and hateful as Michele have any public office what-so-ever?


Kevin
Comment posted July 26, 2011 @ 2:30 pm

There’s an interesting article in MN Post about Bachmann. Since announcing her campaign, she’s missed 40% of the House votes. When asked for a comment by The Hill, she refused to answer. I see a pattern developing, but I’m sure it won’t bother her brain dead followers at all.

Like I said, how can she still exist as anyone but a joke?


Mike
Comment posted July 26, 2011 @ 2:42 pm

MICHELE BACHMANN HAS NO SUBSTANCE !!!

I’ve asked this before over and over… What are her achievements for the people of Minnesota?

She doesn’t help unify people. She DIVIDES PEOPLE and now we have a ridiculous gay marriage amendment that will be on the 2012 ballot at a time when law makers and politicians needed to focus on things that mattered like balancing the budget. SHAME ON THE REPUBLICAN SELLOUTS !!!

Anyone can lie and say they are qualified but she has absolutely NOTHING to support that statement. ZERO! She is a discriminating BIGOT and religious FANATIC with a closet case husband using dangerous junk therapy. It’s sick and I hope the clinic is shut down and there is a full criminal investigation on the Bachmann fraud used on the tax payers dime.


marie
Comment posted July 26, 2011 @ 3:17 pm

If anyone of us didn’t do 40 percent of our job we would be canned.


Paul V
Comment posted July 26, 2011 @ 3:34 pm

The clinic is an anchor around her neck more than other issues. It will continue to come up where ever she goes until you hear the ffflllllluuuuuuush.

I put a dollar on her not finishing the primarys.


Jeff Wilfahrt
Comment posted July 26, 2011 @ 4:19 pm

Paul V,

I’ll take that bet just for the hell of it. You’re on for a dollar. We’ll revisit the issue later and settle up.

Jeff Wilfahrt, Rosemount, MN


Pickwick
Comment posted July 26, 2011 @ 4:32 pm

She’s proud of her record on job creation?!!! O Hahahahahahahah hahahaha ahahahahaha ahaha (breathe) hahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Funniest thing I’ve heard all day.


cb
Comment posted July 26, 2011 @ 4:50 pm

Michele Bachmann and her husband are both very far out. Not good for the U.S. She is running on her own “gay agenda” platform. We are closing schools, laying people off. Family’s are being foreclosed on and being put out in the streets. And all this Republican running for President and her husband can do is talk about is “praying away the gay”. It is a good money maker for her, but we have bigger things to do, and I am hopping God has to. If you or your church has the gay agenda on your mind, all the time you may need to set down and talk with someone. We need to start looking at what is best for the country. Not our own religion’s views, that blow in the wind.


Rusty
Comment posted July 26, 2011 @ 6:09 pm

Hiding from her legacy is telling. Bachmann thinks by ignoring and minimizing the foundations of her political career (demonizing Gay Americans, reparative therapy and then the violence and suicides that often result) voters will also look the other way. Uh, I’m not so sure.


OneOfTheWatchers
Comment posted July 26, 2011 @ 6:44 pm

They obviously have something to hide.

You gotta love it though, “I’m a small business owner jobs creator.” Now how many jobs is that for a clinic, 10, 20? How in any way, shape, or form does that compare to the 25 million jobs that are needed. This woman is such a bag of hot air, it’s disgusting.


nathaniel
Comment posted July 27, 2011 @ 9:50 am

Yeah her clinic is a job creator. It’s creating jobs without any healthcare benefits. The pay is probably lousy too. Somebody should investigate that. I’ll bet they’re a treat to work for besides. Ms. Bachmann cannot keep staff in her congressional office. Her turnover is probably worse than at McDonald’s. Wonder why.


fairobserver
Comment posted July 27, 2011 @ 2:55 pm

The Minnesota-born and Nobel laureate writer Sinclair Lewis once said that “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.” Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, the Tea Party, Karl Rove, and Fox News are evidence of the accuracy of Lewis’s prediction.


Wendy Leigh
Comment posted July 27, 2011 @ 10:28 pm

STEPFORD BARBIE. That is all.


Lane
Comment posted July 28, 2011 @ 4:29 pm

I came across this comment elsewhere:

“Michele Bachmann has said that she does what her husband tells her to do; it’s why she went into “law school,” after all. To say that he is irrelevant to her campaign is like saying we shouldn’t talk about Shari Lewis in a conversation about Lamb Chop.”

I say keep digging at both of them until the sordid truths come out.


Friday Reads « Sky Dancing
Pingback posted July 29, 2011 @ 7:24 am

[...] of homosexuality. Bachmann has repeatedly dodged questions on the issue, and even gone so far as to cut off interviews with Iowa reporters who broach the subject; when I caught up with her outside the MoJo DC office [...]


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