Rep. Michele Bachmann, the Tea Party's favorite for a 2012 presidential candidate, made gaffe when she announced her bid for the Republican nomination in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa on Monday.

"John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa," she told FOX News, praising the land of her birth and showing her kinship to it. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too." Bachmann will soon discover that, if she wants to run for the most coveted office in the country, she will need to get used to people hanging on her every word and get her facts straight. It turns out that Wayne, the legendary Hollywood icon who starred in such movies as True Grit and The Searchers, coming to represent solid, down-home American values, was not born in the same town as Bachmann, after all, but over 100 miles away in Winterset, Iowa.

The Congresswoman wasn't too far off, though — John Wayne Gacy, one of America's most notorious serial killers, famous for having entertained neighborhood kids in a clown suit, which later got him dubbed as the "Killer Clown," lived, and killed, in Waterloo.

"John Wayne is from Iowa, his parents lived in Waterloo," a spokesperson for the Bachmann campaign said. Bachman also addressed the slip, saying that her comments "were just misspeaking," according to CNN. "I wish I could be perfect. I'm a substantive, serious person," she said. At least Napoleon Bonaparte never came up.

3 Comments

  • ejhickey
    ejhickey on

    From the article: " John Wayne Gacy, one of America's most notorious serial killers, famous for having entertained neighborhood kids in a clown suit, which later got him dubbed as the "Killer Clown," lived, and killed, in Waterloo."

    This statement is false and misleading. Although he was arrested and convicted of sexual assault of two minors in Waterloo, he never murdered anyone there. All of his murders occurred in the Chicago area where he was born and where he was deeply involved in Democratic politics. He lived in Waterloo for only two years 1966-1968, hardly long enough for anyone to remember his association with the town. Check your facts before jumping to conclusions

  • Sydney Ramsden
    Sydney Ramsden on

    Even if that's true, she's still comparing herself to a criminal! I'm amazed people like her are allowed to run for President of the United States.

  • Victoria
    Victoria on

    It's a little weird for her to compare herself to a criminal. Did she assume that we'd think that's a good thing? Well I doubt I would vote for her anyway, even if I hadn't read this article.

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