Bachmann Trades Barbs With Newt In Broward Campaign Stop
FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - A testy battle of words was waged in Ft. Lauderdale Tuesday, when second-tier GOP Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann took issue with a claim by rival Newt Gingrich, who called her "factually challenged."
The Minnesota US Representative said both Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are guilty of changing positions when it's politically convenient. And she went further with Gingrich, saying he has a "memory challenge."
On Wednesday, Gingrich said of Bachmann: "In the eyes of a teacher, occasionally I'd have a student who couldn't figure out where things were, or what things were, or what the right date was. When that happens, you feel sorry that they're so factually challenged."
Like candidates Rick Perry and Herman Cain, Bachmann has had her share of verbal fluffs on the campaign trail, and it seems Gingrich was referring to those.
Bachmann once said said she would close the U.S. Embassy in Iran. There just one problem; the U.S. hasn't had an embassy there for decades.
Thursday in Ft. Lauderdale, Bachmann said, "I think that a professor doesn't like to be challenged, but I think that his real challenge is a memory challenge."
Backmann briefly led the GOP race, followed in turn by Rick Perry and Herman Cain, all knocked from atop the polls by verbal gaffes, among other problems. With Bachmann in single digits now, Gingrich had moved from also-ran to the top of the polls, for now, sharing the front-runner crown with Mitt Romney, depending on the poll.
