Michele Bachmann, fresh from a victory in the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll on Saturday, appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning, and was again dogged with questions about her anti-gay platform, this time declaring, “I don’t judge gays.”
Moderator David Gregory reminded Bachmann — and played audio — of her remarks at a 2004 National Education Leadership Conference when she said that homosexuality was “A very sad life. It’s part of Satan.”
“If you’re involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it’s bondage. It is personal bondage, personal despair and personal enslavement. And that’s why this is so dangerous.
“We need to have profound compassion for people who are dealing with the very real issue of sexual dysfunction in their life, and sexual identity disorders.”
Bachmann replied with her standard avoidance answer, “I am running for the presidency of the United States” — as if her views on social issues are not relevant to her campaign for president.
“I am not running to be anyone’s judge,” Bachmann said, but Gregory did not let her off the hook so easily — “But you have judged them,” he said. Watch:
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Also appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Bachmann said she would revisit the military ban on openly gay service members, which is due to be formally repealed on September 20 after 18 years in force.
“The ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy has worked very well,” Bachmann said. “I would be in consultation with our commanders, but yes, I probably will” reinstate the ban, she told CNN.
Earlier this month, Bachmann signed a “Marriage Pledge” from the National Organization for Marriage, in which she pledged to support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage; defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court; appoint judges and an Attorney General who oppose a same-sex marriage; and more.
At a GOP presidential debate on Thursday, Bachmann boasted that, as a state senator in Minnesota, she was the chief author of a constitutional amendment to define marriage as one man and one woman.
In an recent interview with the Concord Monitor, Bachmann dismissed a question regarding gay marriage, and called it a “frivolous matter.”
