She's An Ignorant Liar

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Anderson Cooper rips GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann over comments on slavery, diversity in the U.S.

By Aliyah Shahid
Daily News Staff Writer

Tuesday, January 25th 2011, 3:02 PM


CNN host Anderson Cooper, left, slammed U.S. Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann's recent remarks on diversity in America.
Anderson Cooper is giving Michele Bachmann an F in U.S. history.

The CNN host slammed the Minnesota Republican congresswoman's recent remarks about diversity in America, including claims that the Founding Fathers "worked tirelessly until slavery was no more" and skin color "didn't matter" in the early days of democracy.

During his "Keeping Them Honest" segment on Monday night, Cooper said Bachmann simply "airbrushed herself some new history," adding the U.S. representative's remarks are "either a deliberate rewriting of our history or signs that she has a shaky grasp" on what really happened.

Bachmann, a rising Tea Party star who is rumored to be considering a presidential run in 2012, delivered the controversial remarks to a group called Iowans for Tax Relief on Jan. 21.

"It didn't matter the color of their skin. It didn't matter their language. It didn't matter their economic status," Bachmann told the audience while describing the experience of early settlers in America.

"It didn't matter whether they descended from known royalty or are of a higher class or a lower class. It made no difference. Once you got here, we were all the same. Isn't that remarkable? It is absolutely remarkable."

Her spokesman did not immediately return requests for comment.

Cooper quickly pointed out the difficulties a number of ethnic groups have faced, including Irish immigrants, Japanese-Americans who were placed in internment camps and enslaved Africans who were brought to the U.S. against their will.

Bachmann went on to say that while slavery was still tolerated when the nation began, the "very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States," including John Quincy Adams.

Again, Cooper corrected Bachmann, pointing out many of the founders, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, owned slaves. And while John Quincy Adams did campaign against slavery, he wasn't a Founding Father and died 15 years before the Emancipation Proclamation.

The host noted that Bachmann declined a request to appear on the show to defend her remarks.

Bachmann plans to respond to President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday on behalf o the tea party movement.

WATCH BACHMANN'S SPEECH