GOP DEBATE

Gingrich Defends Working for Freddie

Michele Bachmann insists he was a lobbyist.

Michele Bachmann refuses to stand for Newt Gingrich’s dismissal of his work with Freddie Mac. “We can’t have a czar nominee for the Republican Party,” she says, insisting that she wanted to get rid of the government-run business when it was paying Gingrich. He tries to appeal to the audience by saying he’s a supporter of any business that helps Americans buy homes. But Andrew Sullivan writes that it’s a “terrible mess.” The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz tweets, “Newt sounding defensive, ‘I never changed my position for money.’ Surprised he prolonged Freddie Mac talk rather than moving on.” Bachmann doesn’t relent, saying that Politifact said everything she said in the last debate was true. Well, Politifact has this to say to her tonight: “For the record, we did not say that everything Bachmann said at last week’s debate was true.”