Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann (R-MN) said Sunday that it was "insulting" for a Fox News host to ask if she was a "flake."
"I am very serious about what I want to do," Bachmann told Fox News' Chris Wallace. "People recognize that I’m serious."
"You say that people saw in the debate, saw you as a serious person," Wallace noted. "I don't have to tell you that you have -- that the rap on you in Washington is you have a history of questionable statements, some would say gaffes -- talking about anti-America members of Congress, to on this show a couple of months ago when you suggested that NATO airstrikes have killed up to 30,000 civilians. Are you a flake?"
"Well, I think that would be insulting to say something like that because I'm a serious person," Bachmann replied.
"What I would say is that I am 55 years old. I've been married 33 years. I'm not only a lawyer, I have a post doctorate degree in federal tax law from William and Mary. I worked in serious scholarship and in work in federal tax court. We raised five kids. We've raised 23 foster children. We applied ourselves to education reform. We started a charter school for at-risk kids. I've also been a state senator and member of the United states Congress for five years. I've been very active in our business, as a job creator. I understand job creation. But also I've been leading actively the movement in Washington D.C., with those who are affiliated with fiscal reform."
"Do you recognize that now that you are in the spotlight in a way that you weren't before, you have to be careful and not say what some regard as flaky things?" Wallace asked.
"Well, of course, a person has to be careful with statements that they make. I think that is true. I think now that there will be an opportunity to speak fully on the issues. I look forward to that," Bachmann concluded.
"This doesn't really get at the issue of Bachmann's zero major legislative accomplishments," Politico's Alexander Burns observed, "but it does offer at least a hint of how she'll parry some of the more obviously skeptical, process-oriented questions about her preparedness for the campaign."
Update: Wallace has caved under the pressure of letters from angry viewers and apologized for suggesting Bachmann was a "flake."
"I messed up. I'm sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect," he said.
