Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Michelle Bachmann's Goons rough up Brian Ross of ABC News

The question of the day (with a hat tip to NC Steve 3.0 over at TPM) is whether Republican voters will consider today's incident a feature, or a bug. (You know which way I'm leaning.)

That’s when things got interesting. Ross dashed after Bachmann, repeatedly asking whether she had ever missed a House vote due to a migraine. She ignored him. Ross pursued her into a parking area behind the stage. Her aides grew alarmed. When Ross made a beeline for the white SUV waiting to carry Bachmann away, two Bachmann men pounced on him, grabbing and pushing him multiple times with what looked to me like unusual force. In fact, I have never seen a reporter treated so roughly at a campaign event, especially not a presidential one. Ross was finally able to break away and lob his question at Bachmann one more time, but she continued to ignore him.

Afterward, I asked Ross — a hard-nosed pro who nevertheless seemed slightly shaken — whether he had ever been treated so roughly. “A few times,” he told me. “Mostly by mafia people.”

I'm pretty sure Brian Ross has the video of this. Film at eleven!