Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann this morning denied rumors that she plans to throw her support behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with just one week to go before The North Star State caucuses.
“I don’t have any intentions to talk to Gov. Romney today,” Bachmann told Fox News. “Actually he will be in Minnesota. I’m in Washington, D.C., doing my job in the United States Congress.”
Bachmann also denied that her team was in discussions with the Romney campaign over an endorsement.
“That isn’t true,” she said. “I talk to all of the candidates on a regular basis. I enjoy talking to them. We had a wonderful relationship and camaraderie on the presidential campaign trail. That continues, but I haven’t yet made a decision about who I will endorse or if I will endorse before the nominee is chosen.”
She added that “at this point I don’t have any plan to make an endorsement in Minnesota before Feb. 7.” That’s the date of the Minnesota Republican caucuses.
Bachmann dropped out of the race in January following a disappointing sixth-place finish at the Iowa caucuses.
The Minnesota congresswoman in the past had accused Romney of not being a real conservative while she also maintained that former House speaker Newt Gingrich was too tied to special interests.
Asked about Romney’s apparent weakness among Florida voters who identified themselves as strong supporters of the tea party, Bachmann said that the tea party is not simply made up of right-wing conservatives.
“The tea party is made up of independents and disaffected Democrats,” she said. “It’s a crowd of people that are very tired of Washington, D.C., and they want the country to work again. These are important voters that we have to bring into our presidential campaign in 2012. “
Bachmann, a tea party favorite, said that it’s time to listen to the tea party.
“Rather than disrespecting the tea party, we need to be lifting them up and listening to the tea party because they have a lot to say about common sense and about what we need in our message to win in 2012,” Bachmann said.
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