Michele Bachmann's 'Falafel Is a Gateway Food' Satire Mistaken for Real
A recent satire piece quoting Michele Bachmann as saying the falafel is a "gateway food" to Islam has gone viral, with many readers believing the Minnesota congresswoman's comments to be real.
The satire newspaper The Daily Currant published an article on Sept. 28 in which it described a mock interview between Bachmann and news station KSTP-TV in Minneapolis.
In the mock interview, Bachmann, who is currently running against Democrat Jim Graves for Minnesota State Congress, told KSTP anchor Chris Johnson that she does not believe falafel, a Middle Eastern food consisting of a fried vegetable patty, should be served in the state's elementary schools because it is a "gateway food" to the religion of Islam.
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"Chris, falafel is a gateway food," a mock Bachmann said in the satire piece.
"It starts with falafel, then the kids move on to shawarma. After a while they say 'hey this tastes good, I wonder what else comes from Arabia?'" she continued.
"Before you know it our children are listening to Muslim music, reading the Koran, and plotting attacks against the homeland," she added.
"We need to stop these terror cakes now, before they infiltrate any further," Bachmann concluded.
Although these quotes from Bachmann were completely made up for the satirical piece, many readers on social media sites were picking up on the fake quotes, believing them to be real.
"No words. She thought she could lead us?" tweeted Jason Evan Milhalko, adding a link to the satire article.
"American Taliban in action. Might as well ban Arithmetic and Algebra as well," tweeted Zeshan Mirza.
"Please, someone read this report and tell me I'm crazy! This kind of ignorant mentality is in our Nation's Congress?" tweeted Vincent Pierson.
Although many failed to catch that Bachmann's quotes were not real, others were savvy to the satire.
"Michele Bachmann's 'Jihadi' food statements are a joke, but seriously I will enjoy eating Jihadi falafel even more from now on," tweeted Dima Khatib.
Bachmann, who ran for the presidential nomination in 2011, has previously made controversial statements, such as implying that the HPV vaccine causes "mental retardation" and suggesting that the 2011 East Coast earthquake and hurricane were messages from God.
