(AFP Photo)
Conservative American congresswoman and Tea Party member Rep. Michelle Bachmann appeared on private satellite station ONTV on Saturday night giving sweeping approval to Egypt’s interim government and its crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.
Flanked by fellow conservative representatives Steve King and Louie Gohmert, Bachmann appeared on Youssef El-Husseiny programme “Honorable Gentleman” in a pre-recorded speech affirming the trio’s support for the Egyptian military and against the Brotherhood.
Going against the official United States government line, Bachmann repeatedly referred to the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous terrorist group, and implied the group was responsible for the 11 September 2001 attacks.
“We’ve seen the threat that the Muslim Brotherhood has posed around the world,” said Bachmann. “We stand against this great evil. We are not for them. We remember who caused 9/11 in America. We remember who it was who killed 3,000 brave Americans. “
To ensure global security, said Bachmann, the US must continue military support of Egypt, especially in defeating the Muslim Brotherhood.
“We are for standing with you. We are for standing with American contributions to your nation, so we can help you in your effort to defeat our common enemy: which are the terrorists known as the Muslim Brotherhood,” said Bachmann.
Bachmann, the often-controversial representative from Minnesota’s sixth district, along with King and Gohmert, met with several leaders while in Egypt, including interim president Adly Mansour, Minister of Defence Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, Coptic Pope Tawadros II, and President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt Anis A. Aclimandos.
Aclimandos said that he was impressed with how “open” the representatives were, especially Bachmann.
“She knows that what happened in Egypt was not a coup, it was the will of the people,” said Aclimandos. “She had sympathy for the struggle of the Copts and the 60 churches that were burned.”
Gohmert, too, had harsh words for the Muslim Brotherhood. He attributed Thursday’s assassination attempt on Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim to the Islamist group and indicted ousted president Morsi for the instability in Sinai.
“We’ve seen another bombing this week by the bloodthirsty Muslim Brothers, who want to destabilise things here, who want that large caliphate to expand,” said Gohmert.
“We had heard the Sinai was being fixed by president Morsi,” said Gohmert. “We find out more information and find he was loading it up with weapons and creating a very destabilising situation.”
King’s words were less divisive, and specifically addressed the US’s commitment to sustaining a strong relationship with Egypt.
“There is not a prospect of a successful peace in the Middle East if Egypt isn’t strong, or if the United States and Egypt aren’t working together,” said King.
Arriving on 5 September, Bachmann, King and Gohmert were part of a larger delegation from the US House of Representatives sent to Egypt to gather firsthand information about the current situation in the country. Led by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, the group also included representatives Donna Edwards, Stephen Stockman, Robert Pittenger, and Lois Frankel.
