Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachman says there is not a burning desire to see a woman become president and doubts that people are even ready for one.
In an interview with conservative columnist Cal Thomas, Bachmann — who ran for president last cycle and is preparing to leave Congress in less than a year — offered her thoughts on a possible Hillary Clinton presidential run.
“Bachmann says a lot of people ‘aren’t ready’ for a female president,” Tomas writes of his interview with her.
“’I think there was a cachet about having an African-American president because of guilt,’” he quotes the tea party congresswoman. “(Presumably she means because of slavery and the lengthy denial of civil rights to blacks.) ‘People don’t hold guilt for a woman,’ she says, adding that while people vote for women for virtually every other office, ‘I don’t think there is a pent-up desire’ for a woman president.”
On what Republicans should do if the party nominates a man who has to face Hillary Clinton:
“Two things that need to be done: Remind people [Clinton] is seeking to become commander in chief [and look at] how she has operated in the past with these types of responsibilities,” Thomas quoted Bachmann. “She was in charge during the Benghazi debacle. If a person reads the Senate Intelligence [Committee] report and the House Foreign Affairs [Committee] report released [last] week, it is damning for Hillary Clinton.”
According to the Minnesota congresswoman, Clinton’s own baggage, from Benghazi to healthcare, would overcome any allure of a female candidate.
“Effectively, she would be Obama’s third and fourth term in office,” Bachmann told Thomas.