Politics

Mark Steyn: Michele Bachmann ‘could have been America’s Mrs. Thatcher’ [AUDIO]

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
Font Size:

Filling in for Rush Limbaugh on his radio show Wednesday, National Review columnist Mark Steyn defended Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, who announced earlier in the day she will not seek re-election in 2014.

Steyn explained he would always have a soft spot in his heart for Bachmann because she touted his 2008 book “America Alone” in a speech. He also said she significantly contributed to race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

“I was saddened by this for a couple of reasons — one, I thought actually Michele Bachmann was a great addition to the presidential campaign and the debates above anything else got extremely boring once she was off the panels,” Steyn said. “But the other thing I like about her is she took a ton of — she’s like a lot of successful Republican women — she took a ton of heat about everything, because there’s something about successful Republican women that so-called liberal feminists seem to absolutely loathe, and they hammered Michele Bachmann. She was portrayed as crazy.”

Steyn said if Bachmann remained a fixture in American politics, she could have risen to the heights of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

“She was a fearless, articulate spokesperson for a genuine conservative vision,” he said. “And sooner or later — I mean, people say she got this wrong, she got that wrong. Did you ever see Mrs. Thatcher, circa 1977, 1976? She got a lot of stuff wrong, too. That’s what Michele Bachmann offered. She could have been America’s Mrs. Thatcher, and at worst, she would have been America’s Angela Merkel from Germany. But she would have been a lot better than most of the alternatives from either side of the aisle.”

“I don’t know why the United States has lagged behind other developed nations in having a female leader,” he continued. “But I know that when come the grim day that we do get a female leader, it will be some squishy left-wing hardcore feminist type rather than the kind of female leadership this country would benefit from. And as I said, at her best she could have been America’s Mrs. Thatcher. So, I deeply that Michele Bachmann will not be in the House come two years’ time. But I definitely hope this isn’t the last we’ve heard [from her].”

Follow Jeff on Twitter