Bachmann Took 'Sex Appeal' Comment as Compliment

Vin Weber, Tim Pawlenty's national campaign chairman, may have been too quick on the draw with his apology to Rep. Michele Bachmann for suggesting that “sex appeal” propels part of her popularity in Iowa. It turns out that the Republican presidential candidate took the comment as a compliment, The Washington Post’s political blog The Fix reported.

Weber said he got a call from the Minnesota congresswoman, and “she said she knows I’ve always bent over backwards to say good things about her and that she took my comments as complimentary,” Weber told the Post in an email. “We have been and remain good friends.”

Weber, himself a former Minnesota congressman, had made the comment in an interview with Fox News.

Pawlenty rebuked Weber later and said he wasn't speaking for the campaign. “You shouldn't use sex appeal in evaluating a candidate's fitness for office," Pawlenty said.

Weber also issued an apologizing statement, saying, “I made a mistake that was disrespectful to my friend Congresswoman Bachmann. I’ve been a Bachmann supporter in her congressional bids, and I apologize. I was not speaking on behalf of Governor Pawlenty’s campaign, but, nevertheless, it was inappropriate, and I’m sorry.”