It’s no secret that Republicans are concerned about a possible Hillary Clinton presidential candidacy, but one-time candidate and retiring Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann’s taken her fear to a much higher level.
In a radio interview caught by Right Wing Watch Monday, Bachmann says that God will help stop the former secretary of state from becoming president, invoking the story of David and Goliath.
“All David needed was one smooth stone to fell the giant,” Bachmann told Christian radio host Jan Markell. “It wasn’t the stone, it wasn’t David, it was the strong right arm of a holy God. And, again, I believe that it’s, in some ways, up to us. If we repent, if we cry out to God, we have no idea what the Lord God will do for us in 2016.”
Conservatives are already devoted to seeing Clinton kept from office, even though she’s yet to visit Iowa (this time around, at least) and is likely more than a year away from any official announcement of candidacy.
Clinton will come face-to-face with a potential 2016 rival Tuesday evening as she receives an award from Jeb Bush. The former Florida governor has taken some heat from those within his party for agreeing to honor the former secretary of state with the 2013 Liberty Medal on behalf of the National Constitution Center, but he defended the decision Monday.
“The National Constitution Center is recognizing Secretary Clinton with the 2013 Liberty Medal for her lifelong career in public service, especially her ongoing advocacy efforts on behalf of women and girls around the globe,” he said in a statement according to the Tampa Bay Times. “While Secretary Clinton and I disagree on many issues, we certainly agree on the importance of civic engagement. The Board looks forward to the Center’s annual celebration of the vision of freedom, responsibility and equality embodied in the U.S. Constitution.”
For critics, the timing is especially upsetting, since the ceremony occurs one day shy of the year anniversary of the 9/11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, which many conservatives have blamed the Clinton-led State Department at least in part. Other potential 2016 rival Sen. Rand Paul went so far as to say that her involvement in the Benghazi attack made her unfit for higher office. Some of the right have even suggested that Bush’s potential Republican rivals should save the video for 2016 primary ads.
While Bachmann and others in the GOP may be loudly or secretly praying against a Clinton run, those prayers might just get canceled out by the other side, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who says she prays Hillary will decide to run for president.
“Nobody has been first lady, senator and now secretary of state,” she said. “So putting everything aside that she is a woman, she’d be the best qualified person we’ve seen, with all due respect to President Clinton when he went in, President Obama and President Bush and everybody else.”
Morgan Whitaker