Michele Bachmann Asked If She Is A 'Submissive Wife' At Iowa GOP Debate (VIDEO)

The crowd at the GOP primary debate in Ames, Iowa did not appreciate Byron York asking Michele Bachmann about this part of a recent Washington Post profile on Thursday night:

"He is her godly husband," said Peter Bachmann, Dr. Bachmann's oldest brother, who lives on the family dairy farm across the eastern border in Wisconsin. "The husband is to be the head of the wife, according to God." It is a philosophy that Michele Bachmann echoed to congregants of the Living Word Christian Center in 2006, when she stated that she pursued her degree in tax law only because her husband had told her to. "The Lord says: Be submissive, wives. You are to be submissive to your husbands," she said.

When York asked about whether she was submissive, the crowd booed and hissed, loudly.

Bachmann batted it aside. "I respect my husband, he's a wonderful godly man, and we respect each other."

As I said at the time of the Post profile, "Bachmann's really comfortable being her own woman. She gets by in the House's "boy's club" just fine. When she wanted to issue a response to the State Of The Union address that would steal away from her party's official response, she asked for neither permission nor forgiveness. If Bachmann's been spending her career doing her husband's bidding rather than her own, it's not remarkably apparent." I'm honestly surprised this even came up as a question.

 

 

Comments

[pillgirl]

12:11 AM on 08/20/2011

so the answer is yes?

[purplet trader]

07:29 AM on 08/16/2011

Where are these five children- 23 foster kids she talks about- odd that we never see any of them -

[8arrows]

01:00 AM on 08/16/2011

On the one hand, it is inappropriate. Religion is no one's business but the faithful. However, given that Bachmann supports promotion of her faith through political means, it is a highly appropriate question to ask. If her husband rules her, then which of them is actually running for president? If her personal form of worship is flexible in some regards, then who is she to try to outlaw things that other people might not agree with because they don't share her faith?

[concentric1]

09:14 PM on 08/15/2011

Michelle Bachmann--the #1 rationale why this nation needs publicly funded mental health services.

[PTAOfficerforObama]

08:00 PM on 08/15/2011

During the debate, when I heard the question, my first thought was, yes it did. But as so many pointed out, she herself said she was a submissive wife. People need to know who will be governing.

[TJ Logan]

06:47 PM on 08/15/2011

I dont know about the "question" crossing the line, but I do know about what Bachmann says that crosses the line:

--"I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out: Are they pro-America or anti-America?"

--"If we took away the minimum wage -- if conceivably it was gone -- we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level."

--"There are hundreds and hundreds of scientists, many of them holding Nobel Prizes, who believe in intelligent design."

--"I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out under another, then under another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter. I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence."

--"And what a bizarre time we're in, when a judge will say to little children that you can't say the pledge of allegiance, but you must learn that homosexuality is normal and you should try it."

--"But we also know that the very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States."

Now this woman is simply nuts.

[littlerabbit]

05:06 PM on 08/15/2011

People deserve to know if she walks the talk....or is it all words?

[Lat24]

11:47 AM on 08/15/2011

Mrs. Bachmann has opened the door and encourages anyone to ask questions .... regardless of the issue. When you run for public office, you are allowing your self to become the "bug on a pin" to anyone who wants to take a look or closely examine the content of the specimen. Just because the inquiry does not meet the sensitivity level of attendees, does not mean the question was in error. This seemingly tacky approach applies to ANYONE running for public office, regardless of gender or political affiliation. To paraphrase an old Betty Davis movie ... "Fasten your seatbelts; it's going to be a bumpy night" ... or in this case a long an bumpy ride to November, 2012.

[libertyanne]

10:53 AM on 08/15/2011

I doubt she submits very often with all those headaches....

[onlyaquarterdelusional]

09:33 AM on 08/15/2011

Bachmann has made so many insane comments and has taken so many insane positions that a 90 minute documentary comedy could be made using actual video of just her with no other commentary...but asking her to defend her positions is off limits?

[Clevelandinwi]

08:52 AM on 08/15/2011

Besides, it's kris walass, who does this in every interview he's ever done. And the hannitie objects to get his moment in the news and so on and so on and so on and .........................................

[Clevelandinwi]

08:50 AM on 08/15/2011

How can questions to her 'cross the line' when she has crossed it so many times herself?

[TeeSC]

08:23 AM on 08/15/2011

It's not the least bit out of line.  She's made this an issue herself.

[mamacat]

04:42 AM on 08/15/2011

My first reaction was to think, "Well, what do you expect from a Fox News host?"

But then, after reading comments that she has made about being submissive to her husband because the Bible tells her to be so, the question actually makes sense.

My prayer would be that she never gets anywhere near the White House, and that she gets booted out of Congress in the next election.

[chaz]

10:35 PM on 08/14/2011

Any real Christian would be completely appalled by the conservatives.

Turn off Fox.

INsist on separation of Church and State. Take religion away from these liars.