Bart Stupak Tells Rick Sanchez That Michele Bachmann IS Instigating Violence [View All]

SANCHEZ: However, there has been an awful lot of palaver today coming from some of your colleagues saying, you know what, to a certain extent, the heated rhetoric from Republicans has instigated some of these actions.

What's your take on that?

STUPAK: Well -- well, the thing that outraged a lot of us was, while the demonstrations were going on, the Republicans were on the second floor with signs urging the crowd below. Some of them said, "Kill." Some of them had a picture of -- of the speaker, and they would hold it up and slice their hand across the speaker's throat. To the crowd, they would all cheer.

I mean, it almost became a -- a mob mentality here. And then, when you have members, same members of Congress, encouraging it with signs and pictures and gestures, that -- that's -- that's really uncalled for.

SANCHEZ: I want to let you -- I want to let you listen to something, because...

STUPAK: Sure.

SANCHEZ: ... you know, some would argue -- and we have gone back and done our research -- that this is not just now...

STUPAK: Right.

SANCHEZ: ... this is not brand-new, that this type of rhetoric has been used by some, not all, some Republicans in the past. Listen to this from Michele Bachmann. This is months and months ago...

STUPAK: Right.

SANCHEZ: ... having, I believe, nothing to do with health care. Play it, Rog.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax, because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us having a revolution every now and then is a good thing.

We, the people, are going to have to fight back hard if we're not going to lose our country.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Armed and dangerous and wanting a revolution.

What do you think when you hear those words, and are they appropriate, and do they instigate?

STUPAK: Yes, I think they instigate. Are they appropriate? No.

SANCHEZ: ... some people are going as far as saying that that is very close to, if not actual, terrorism, maybe not the terrorism that we're used to seeing that we see in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, and certainly the horrible thing that happened on 9/11.

STUPAK: Sure.

SANCHEZ: But some people would describe it that way. How would you describe it?

STUPAK: They're -- they're trying to intimidate us. And I do believe that, under federal law, it is a crime to threaten or -- or try to coerce, intimidate a -- a federal official, especially...

SANCHEZ: Is it terrorism?

STUPAK: ... on -- on an -- on an issue.

SANCHEZ: Is it -- is it terrorism?

STUPAK: I guess you might as well call it domestic terrorism, sure. Sure.