Not even the conservative’s conservative is going to bail Michele Bachmann out of this one.
On his show today, Rush Limbaugh attacked Bachmann for her medically baseless claim that Gardasil — the HPV vaccine Rick Perry mandated for young girls in Texas — causes mental retardation.
The claim came last night, after a debate performance where some saw Bachmann reignite her flagging campaign partially due to her pressuring Perry on the Gardisil issue on stage, largely the grounds that forcing the procedure was a “violation of liberty.”
On Fox News after the debate, Bachmann added to the criticism with this line:
“I will tell you that I had a mother last night come up to me here in Tampa, Florida, after the debate,” Bachmann said. “She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter.”
Limbaugh said that was a step too far.
“Michele Bachmann, she might have blown it today. Well, not blown it but she might have jumped the shark today — if she’d have just left it alone on this vaccination thing from last night,” he said.
“She’s now out saying this vaccination, Gardasil, causes mental retardation…that’s jumping the shark on this,” Limbaugh continued, joining the chorus of conservative pundits who condemned Bachmann’s words today. “There’s no evidence that the vaccine causes mental retardation. That’s a shame.”
Listen to the audio, clipped by the team at The Right Scoop here.
