Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) tried on Tuesday to explain away a historical gaffe she made during a stop in New Hampshire last weekend.
In a misstep that landed her in the headlines, Bachmann told a group of local Republicans, "You're the state where the shot was heard around the world in Lexington and Concord." The first shots of the Revolutionary War, however, were not fired in the Granite State, but rather in Massachusetts.
"I made a mistake; I should've said Massachusetts rather than New Hampshire," said the Tea Party favorite during an appearance on the Laura Ingraham show on Tuesday, according to The Hill.
According to Bachmann, her remarks captured the attention of the media because of "a double standard" against conservatives. She said, "...as we know all 3,400 members of the mainstream media are part of the Obama press contingent."
Nevertheless, the AP noted over the weekend:
Though Bachmann probably wasn't the first to confuse Concord, N.H., with Concord, Mass., her mistake was striking given her roots in the tea party movement, which takes its name from the dumping of tea into Boston Harbor by angry American colonists in December 1773, 16 months before the Battle of Lexington Green.
The gaffe from Bachmann became fodder for discussion on ABC's "This Week" last Sunday. At one point during a roundtable segment, conservative columnist George Will quipped that his wife "occasionally advises" the conservative congresswoman, but "not on American history."
Bachmann is currently mulling a presidential campaign for the next election cycle and is expected to make her plans for 2012 known early this summer. She has recently made trips to early primary states in addition to New Hampshire.