Bachmann stands by slavery comment

Michele Bachmann got into another history-related tussle on ABC's "Good Morning America" today, standing by a statement she made praising the founding fathers for having "worked tirelessly to end slavery."


ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked Bachmann to defend that comment, given the fact that the U.S. founders helped enshrine slavery in the Constitution and allowed it to continue as an institution until the Civil War.

Bachmann responded by pointing to the career of John Quincy Adams, the abolitionist president who was not yet 9 years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed.

"If you look at one of our founding fathers, John Quincy Adams, that's absolutely true," Bachmann said. "He was a very young boy, but he was with his father, serving essentially as his father's secretary. He tirelessly worked throughout his life to make sure that we did, in fact, one day eradicate slavery from our nation, and I'm so grateful for that work."

Stephanopoulos responded: "He wasn't one of the founding fathers. He was a president, he was a secretary of state. As a member of Congress, you're right, he did work to end slavery decades later. But — so you're standing by this comment that the founding fathers worked tirelessly to end slavery?"

"Well John Quincy Adams most certainly was part of the Revolutionary War era," Bachmann said. "He was a young boy but he was actively involved."

This article tagged under: Michele Bachmann

2012 Elections