Bachmann Confuses George Washington Carver with George Washington
Rep. Michelle Bachmann said our nation’s first president should be praised for his experimentation with peanuts and their by-products.
WASHINGTON (TheSkunk.org) — Now that Rep. Michelle Bachmann has thrown her hat into the ring for the 2012 presidential race, critics are paying close attention to a string of misinformation discharging from the mouth of the conservative congresswoman. Bachmann’s newest gaff: the assertion Monday that our nation’s first president should be praised for his experimentation with peanuts and their by-products.
“Barack Obama wants you to believe that he is our country’s first black president,” said Bachmann, “but the truth is that over 235 years ago, we had another black president — a man of science, who was born a slave and went on to achieve great things for Americans and nuts.”
When it was pointed out by various news sources that it was George Washington Carver — not George Washington — that created over 300 commercial uses for the peanut, Bachmann charged the media with bias. “Just because my narrative of American history might have been lacking in a few specifics,” she said, “the pundits are quick to attack me for being misundereducated and non-intellectuallized.”
Fox newsman Chris Wallace was among those who called her to task for the misstatement. “Why should anyone take you seriously as a presidential candidate when you’ve confused the great 19th century African-American scientist with the father of our country.”
Bachmann said she was speaking in general terms, insisting her historical facts were “essentially” truthful. “Peanuts were certainly around in George Washington’s days,” she noted. “I’m sure there must have been a time when he sat down and contemplated other uses for them.”
When Wallace continued to press her on her lack of knowledge of American history, she shot back.
“Believe me, I know who George Washington is,” declared Bachmann, challenging the notion that she is ignorant and uninformed. “‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ is one of my all-time favorite books.”
Added Bachmann: “I remind my children all the time how the headless horseman chopped down the peanut tree with his shiny new ax, and yet had the decent moral character to tell his slave owners the truth.”
