Aspiring GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachman mixes the two up on Fox News.
John Wayne shot a lot of people in the movies but he's no John Wayne Gacy, the serial killer who raped and murdered more than 30 teen boys and young men in the 1970s. But the two do share a name and Iowa roots, which aspiring Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachman discovered the hard way on Sunday.
While being interviewed by Fox News from Iowa, the Minnesota Representative said, "I want them to know just like John Wayne is from Waterloo Iowa, that's the spirit I have too. It's embracing America. It's sacrificing for America."
The Duke did hail from Iowa -- Winterset, to be exact -- but it's John Wayne Gacy who lived and worked in Waterloo. Shortly after the gaffe, Bachman's camp noted that the actor's parents lived in Waterloo at one point.
Brian Downes, director of the John Wayne Birthplace Society, said Bachman’s mistake was not a big deal. He told Politico, "We've been misidentified before ... It happens, but the information is posted on Interstates 80 and 35.”
He added, "John Wayne himself would mangle names like crazy — longtime friends and co-stars."
Bachman officially began for campaign for the 2012 Republican nomination Monday in Iowa, saying “I want this moment to serve as a reminder of the best of who we are as a nation, and of what our values are, and what it is that makes America great."
