This is a rush transcript from “Hannity,” January 21, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Now needless to say this week has not been kind to Democrats. The election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts has them very much on the defensive. And yesterday all this pressure got the best of Pennsylvania Democrat Arlen Specter.
Now listen to this exchange that he had during a joint radio appearance on WPHT with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, D-PENN.: Now wait a minute, I’ll stop and you can talk.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, R-MINN.: OK.
SPECTER: I’ll treat you like a lady, so act like one.
BACHMANN: Well, I am a lady.
SPECTER: My question to you was what did you vote for?
BACHMANN: I voted for prosperity. I didn’t vote for the government takeover of private industry.
SPECTER: She said I voted for prosperity. Well, prosperity wasn’t a bill.
BACHMANN: Well, why don’t we make it a bill?
SPECTER: Now wait a minute me. Don’t interrupt me, I didn’t interrupt you. Act like a lady.
BACHMANN: Well, I think I’m a lady.
SPECTER: I think you are too, that’s why I’m treating you like one but just don’t interrupt me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right. We reached out to Senator Specter’s office earlier today for a comment but we have yet to receive a response.
And joining me now from Minnesota to respond is Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who I tagged the second most hated Republican woman in America. But you corrected me today. The second most loved after Governor Palin, so you get — I guess both categories.
Welcome back.
BACHMANN: Thank you, Sean. Always a pleasure to be on your show.
HANNITY: All right, well, what the heck happened there?
BACHMANN: I was absolutely stunned. This was the first time I had ever met Senator Specter. I sat down next to him at a table. We began a discussion and immediately it was as though he had turned on me because he was trying to talk about all the wonderful bills that Senator Obama had passed.
The stimulus which is $1 trillion spending bill, the budget — expansion of — more government take over of health care for children. And then next thing I knew, the person interviewing us had asked what I thought about president Obama’s year. I disagreed. I told him that I think we should focus on prosperity and job creation.
And Senator Specter turned and then questioned whether I was a lady and told me to basically sit down and be quiet.
HANNITY: Yes.
BACHMANN: I was actually stunned at the arrogance.
HANNITY: Well, don’t interrupt me and act like a lady. And now this is obviously making a lot of news at this point. Has he at least called and apologized? Said he’s sorry? Has he tried to contact you?
BACHMANN: No, not at all. We didn’t hear anything. And I just left Washington. Now I’m in Minnesota back in my district and we haven’t heard anything from Senator Specter’s office.
But what was really stunning, again, about that whole interchange is it’s emblematic of what the message the voters sent on Tuesday evening. The voters repudiated the arrogance that’s come out of the Democrat Party.
And what I heard yesterday on the radio with Senator Specter was more of that arrogance. They haven’t sobered up yet as to the reality that the people are in charge, not this very liberal majority.
HANNITY: All right. Let me ask you about that and — I mean, it is pretty amazing that — maybe he’s looking at the polls. I don’t know if you saw the latest Scott Rasmussen poll that he’s down from Pat Toomey, he’s down nine points now in the latest polling there so he’s not looking too good in another blue state like Pennsylvania.
Evan Bayh said something about the election and I quoted it the last couple of nights because I think it really captures how the Democratic Party is lurched so far to the left, when he said look, there’s a tendency of our people to be in denial about all this, but if you lose Massachusetts, and that’s not a wake-up call, there’s no hope of waking up.
Now do you see any indications the Democrats actually understand what happened Tuesday? You’re there in Washington.
BACHMANN: Well, you know, it’s an interesting thing. When I took the plane into D.C. on Tuesday there was no sense whatsoever when I was on the House floor that the Democrats had any indication that anything was about to happen.
On Wednesday, they looked startled. Today on Thursday, they’re beginning to realize that there’s some hemorrhaging. But I don’t really see yet, Sean, that they’re pivoting. I don’t see that.
Some want to, but for the most part I think they are fairly clueless about coming to this recognition that the American people want economic stability and job creation.
HANNITY: But the first indication that I think we’re seeing came out of Nancy Pelosi today when she said she didn’t think in the House that they had votes for the Senate bill. Remember now the Senate doesn’t have a filibuster proof Senate.
So now if they don’t approve the Senate bill in the House then they have to go back pretty much to the drawing board. But she said the members in our caucus have been very clear that they didn’t like it before when it had the Nebraska provision.
And she said if every meeting we’ve had there would be nothing that would give me any thought that the bill could pass right now the way it is. And then she said we’re in no rush.
Now that is obviously a dramatic change in opinion even from Monday night.
BACHMANN: No, that’s true. But Republicans aren’t standing still on health care. We are going to have a press conference next Wednesday in Washington, D.C., and we’ll be making our announcement of where we’re going next on health care.
Essentially we’re memorializing on paper, we’re repudiating all of these backdoor deals that Democrats have been standing for, and we’re laying some new ground rules going forward.
We’re not for political favoritism. We’re not for close-door meetings. And we’re certainly not for adding to the crushing debt load. So your viewers can watch on Wednesday. You’ll see the new going forward agenda of the Republican Party.
We want a good positive dialogue so we can maintain the vital doctor- patient relationship.
HANNITY: Let me ask you this.
BACHMANN: … which everyone wants.
HANNITY: Now Nancy Pelosi specifically targeted you as the number one person that — as a Republican that she would like to see defeated. You have been attacked viciously on the blogs. Viciously by the liberal commentators in the country.
Are you concerned about your seat considering they’re going to pour so much money into your district?
BACHMANN: Well, I am. ACORN was a very vocal boots-on-the-ground presence here in Minnesota in the last election cycle. We have a very strong presence from all of the players on the left.
We don’t have any senators up for election. We have a lot of our Democrat members of Congress don’t have opponents yet. And I think that all of their resources will be focused on defeating me in this year’s election.
HANNITY: All right, Congresswoman, we’ll watch your race very closely. Appreciate you being with us, as always. Thanks.
BACHMANN: And you’re welcome to come to Minnesota.
HANNITY: All right, thank you.
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