Severely trailing in the polls, GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has been making the media rounds. Tuesday morning, the Minnesota congresswoman stopped by MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” where she pulled no punches on GOP front-runner Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.
In a conversation with host Joe Scarborough about lobbyists and influence-peddling in Washington, D.C., Bachmann explained how lobbyists hone in on the tax code to help their respective causes.
“The tax code is about 3.8 million words, and the reason why is because its carve-outs and sweetheart deals,” Bachmann said. “That’s what influence peddlers do. And that is the playground, is the tax code. It’s crony capitalism.”
Scarborough expressed his frustration with the model, saying that no matter the party he gets tired of politicians expressing a belief in the free market when they are engaged in rigging the system.
Bachmann agreed and took the sentiment a step further, naming names — specifically her opponents for the Republican presidential nomination.
“If you want to talk about a poster child for crony capitalism it would be Newt Gingrich as the ultimate consummate influence peddler. But also Mitt Romney is also cut out of the same cloth in that he has been a consummate Washington, D.C. insider,” Bachmann said. “That is why the tea party movement is looking for someone different, somebody who is a fighter and somebody stand up for them and their values. It’s not Newt and it’s not Mitt.”
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The congresswoman elaborated that Romney — who had never held office in D.C. — is an insider because he “is a part of that whole scene that stands for the same values.”