On Wednesday, Michele Bachmann's former campaign manager decried her accusation that Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. In a letter on FoxNew.com, Ed Rollins wrote, "I am fully aware that she sometimes has difficulty with her facts, but this is downright vicious and reaches the late Senator Joe McCarthy level."
Bachmann (R-MN) and four other members of Congress wrote a letter last month accusing Abedin of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and possibly using her position as a senior aide to the Secretary of State to influence policy.
Rollins, a top Republican strategist who ran Rep. Michele Bachmann's campaign for president, joined several other Republicans, including Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), in condemning the letter, saying that the charges are "outrageous and false."
"Her unsubstantiated charge against Abedin, a widely respected top aide to Secretary Hillary Clinton, accusing her of some sort of far-fetched connection to the Muslim Brotherhood, is extreme and dishonest," Rollins wrote.
"As a member of Congress, with a seat on the House Intelligence Committee, Mrs. Bachmann you know better," he countinued. "Shame on you, Michele! You should stand on the floor of the House and apologize to Huma Abedin and to Secretary Clinton and to the millions of hard working, loyal, Muslim Americans for your wild and unsubstantiated charges. As a devoted Christian, you need to ask forgiveness for this grievous lack of judgment and reckless behavior."
On The Ed Show, Guy Benson, the political editor for the conservative TownHall.com, agreed that "you don't do that sort of thing unless you have proof. She doesn't have proof, so she was wrong to do it, and Sen. McCain was right to call her out." He added: "I would like to see her answer some more questions about this."
But John Fugelsang, a political comedian, had a different take, arguing that Bachmann's accusations were "actually rather deliberate. She is going to raise money from saying what she said. And she will earn the ire of her colleagues. Yes, even John Boehner condemned her, but the fact is they need her because she makes them look so measured and reasonable."