QUESTION FOR G.O.P. CANDIDATE BACHMANN: “DO YOU PLAY FAST AND LOOSE WITH THE TRUTH?” HER ANSWER…
POLITIFACT, June 27, 2011—On “Face the Nation” last Sunday, Bob Schieffer asked GOP Presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann about her PolitiFact report card.
SCHIEFFER: I want to ask you about something else. A lot of your critics say you have been very fast and loose with the truth.
You know, the PolitiFact, which is a website that won a Pulitzer, did an analysis of 23 statements that you made recently. Of these 23, only one they said was completely true. Seven they call "pants on fire" kind of falsehoods. Four were "barely true" and two were "half- true."
How do you answer that criticism?
Because here's one of them. You know, you said on the record there had been only one offshore oil drilling permit during the Obama administration. And in fact, at that time, there had been 270. How do you explain that?
BACHMANN: Well, you know, I think that what's clear more than anything is the fact that President Obama has not been issuing the permits that he should have been issuing on offshore drilling. That's why we're in the problems we're in.
SCHIEFFER: But it has to be more than 300 now. At that time, there had been 200-and-something, and you said there had been only one.
BACHMANN: But, as far as drilling goes, we hadn't been drilling what we need to. That's why we just saw this week...
SCHIEFFER: But that's different, isn't it?
BACHMANN: Well, that's why, this week, it's ironic and sad that the president released all of the oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve because the president doesn't have an energy policy.
SCHIEFFER: Do you think that was a good move?
BACHMANN: He has a politically correct environmental policy.
SCHIEFFER: Was that a good thing?
BACHMANN: It was a very bad move. It put -- it has made the United States more vulnerable. There's only a limited amount of oil that we have in the Strategic Oil Reserve. It's there for emergencies.
We do not -- the emergency that we have is the fact that the -- the president of the United States has failed to give the American people an energy policy.
Here's the good news that a lot of Americans don't even realize. We are the number one energy-resource-rich nation in the world, according to the Congressional Research Service. But the president of the United States has unfortunately put American energy resources off- limits. We need to open those up so we can bring down the price of gasoline at the pump. The president has it exactly wrong when it comes to energy.
SCHIEFFER: Just quickly, though, the original question I asked you is all of these statements that you have made that have later proven to be sort of true or totally false in some cases -- what's your answer when people say that to you? Do you feel you have misled people?
BACHMANN: No, I haven't misled people at all. I think the question would be asked of President Obama, when you told the American people that, if we borrow $1 trillion from other countries and spend it on a stimulus, that we won't have unemployment go above 8 percent, and today, as we are sitting here, it's 9.1 percent and the economy is tanking -- that is what's serious. That's a very serious statement that the president made.
Did he mislead the American people? Not only did he mislead the American people, he's caused our economy to go down to depths that we haven't seen. That's what's serious.
SCHIEFFER: Again, I have to say, Congresswoman, I asked you a question and you -- to my knowledge, I don't believe you answered it. But I want to thank you. I know you're -- you're very excited about what happened out in Iowa and we wish you the best. Hope to see you down the trail.
BACHMANN: Thank you, Bob.
SCHIEFFER: Thank you.
SCHIEFFER: I want to ask you about something else. A lot of your critics say you have been very fast and loose with the truth.
You know, the PolitiFact, which is a website that won a Pulitzer, did an analysis of 23 statements that you made recently. Of these 23, only one they said was completely true. Seven they call "pants on fire" kind of falsehoods. Four were "barely true" and two were "half- true."
How do you answer that criticism?
Because here's one of them. You know, you said on the record there had been only one offshore oil drilling permit during the Obama administration. And in fact, at that time, there had been 270. How do you explain that?
BACHMANN: Well, you know, I think that what's clear more than anything is the fact that President Obama has not been issuing the permits that he should have been issuing on offshore drilling. That's why we're in the problems we're in.
SCHIEFFER: But it has to be more than 300 now. At that time, there had been 200-and-something, and you said there had been only one.
BACHMANN: But, as far as drilling goes, we hadn't been drilling what we need to. That's why we just saw this week...
SCHIEFFER: But that's different, isn't it?
BACHMANN: Well, that's why, this week, it's ironic and sad that the president released all of the oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve because the president doesn't have an energy policy.
SCHIEFFER: Do you think that was a good move?
BACHMANN: He has a politically correct environmental policy.
SCHIEFFER: Was that a good thing?
BACHMANN: It was a very bad move. It put -- it has made the United States more vulnerable. There's only a limited amount of oil that we have in the Strategic Oil Reserve. It's there for emergencies.
We do not -- the emergency that we have is the fact that the -- the president of the United States has failed to give the American people an energy policy.
Here's the good news that a lot of Americans don't even realize. We are the number one energy-resource-rich nation in the world, according to the Congressional Research Service. But the president of the United States has unfortunately put American energy resources off- limits. We need to open those up so we can bring down the price of gasoline at the pump. The president has it exactly wrong when it comes to energy.
SCHIEFFER: Just quickly, though, the original question I asked you is all of these statements that you have made that have later proven to be sort of true or totally false in some cases -- what's your answer when people say that to you? Do you feel you have misled people?
BACHMANN: No, I haven't misled people at all. I think the question would be asked of President Obama, when you told the American people that, if we borrow $1 trillion from other countries and spend it on a stimulus, that we won't have unemployment go above 8 percent, and today, as we are sitting here, it's 9.1 percent and the economy is tanking -- that is what's serious. That's a very serious statement that the president made.
Did he mislead the American people? Not only did he mislead the American people, he's caused our economy to go down to depths that we haven't seen. That's what's serious.
SCHIEFFER: Again, I have to say, Congresswoman, I asked you a question and you -- to my knowledge, I don't believe you answered it. But I want to thank you. I know you're -- you're very excited about what happened out in Iowa and we wish you the best. Hope to see you down the trail.
BACHMANN: Thank you, Bob.
SCHIEFFER: Thank you.
Let’s look at the scorecard on Michelle Bachmann:
23 statements
22 lies
BACHMANN: “No, I haven't misled people at all.”
That’s 24 statements and 23 lies.
Nice.