Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) just appeared on the Ed Schultz show on MSNBC, and he was asked about Michele Bachmann’s allegation that the “Flying Imams” — the six Muslim men who were removed from a plane at the Minneapolis airport in late November 2006 — were suspicious characters who had in fact been in town for Ellison’s victory party.
(The relevance here is that Ellison is the first Muslim elected to Congress. And the men were in town for a conference held a week and a half after Ellison’s election. And they were released after it was found they posed no threat.)
Schultz billed Bachmann’s allegation as part of his regular “Psycho Talk” feature, and asked Ellison if it was true. “This is not true,” said Ellison. “I think it could even be called ‘Psycho Talk.'”
Just before Ellison’s appearance, his press secretary Rick Jauert told me that the Congressman had tried to call Bachmann to discuss this. She wasn’t available, so he left her a note. “He’s just not gonna engage her,” said Jauert.
