The March 22 terrorist attack in Brussels – which has led to the deaths of 34 innocent people so far and hundreds others suffering injuries – resulted in messages of sympathy for those individuals, and resolve to continue to fight the perpetrators of the act, ISIS.
In the case of former Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, the fault for the act lies with President Barack Obama. She thinks (and this is not fake), God allowed the terrorist act to take place and kill so many because Obama abandoned Israel .
Bachmann noted that Obama was visiting Cuba during the annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which, in her opinion, was deliberately timed. Her belief was that because a large portion of the media attention went to the trip instead of the meeting of the pro-Israel group, Obama was mocking Israel and that Islamic attacks on the country were being ignored.
Critics of Bachmann pointed out that in February, the Obama administration offered Israel a decade-long aid package worth $30 billion that would begin in 2018. The country also remains the largest recipient of aid from the United States.
Bachmann, who left office after her term expired in January 2015, has been a frequent critic of Obama’s presidency. During his first year in office in 2009, his attempt at fixing the severely damaged structure in place caused Bachmann to imply that he was attempting to take over the American economy.
Saying that the government was taking over 51 percent of the economy, Bachmann’s comments were debunked when it was pointed out that the percentage was just under 21 percent.
In regard to the bank bailout that was agreed upon during the last months of George W. Bush’s presidency, Bachmann claimed that it would cost taxpayers $700 billion and implied that it was Obama’s fault. In truth, the bailout cost only $19 billion.
The following year, Bachmann attacked an overseas trip Obama was taking that included visiting India. She claimed that the trip would cost taxpayers $200 million for each day of the visit, a number that was discovered to have come from a news agency in India. However, a similar trip by then-President Clinton in 2000 cost only $10 million per day.
Bachmann previously ran for the 2012 Republican nomination for president, but after a brief uptick in her poll numbers in August 2011, she dropped out before any of the primaries or caucuses took place.
During that time, some of her opinions resulted in a great deal of controversy. Her most explosive comment took place during a Republican debate in Tampa on September 12, 2011, when she stated that the HPV vaccine would result in “mental retardation.” The comment was in response to her fellow candidate Rick Perry’s 2007 order as governor of Texas to mandate that girls entering the sixth grade be given the HPV vaccine.
The virus has been shown to cause cervical cancer, but is only transmitted during sex. Bachmann and other conservatives believe that allowing girls to be given the vaccine is tantamount to condoning sexual relations between teenagers.
Bachmann attempted to show the dangers of the vaccine, saying that she had met a woman prior to the debate whose daughter was now autistic after being given the vaccine. In the days following the debate, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement rebutting Bachmann’s claims.
Finally, in making comments concerning the 2016 presidential campaign, Bachmann has attacked Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s plan to eliminate coal mining jobs that would reduce climate change as being connected to fascist values.