Bachmann's comments draw criticism from family of a McCarthy target

Republican presidential hopeful Michele
In a file photo, Rep. Michele Bachmann speaks at an event during her presidential campaign in Tama, Iowa, on Dec. 22, 2011.
JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

The controversy over Rep. Michele Bachmann's claims that the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the U.S. government continues.

Bachmann has presented no evidence to back up her allegations that Rep. Keith Ellison and a high-level staffer to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. And her comments have been compared to the tactics of former Wisconsin Sen. Joe McCarthy's crusade against communists in the United States in the 1950's.

Twin Cities attorney Ken Tilsen lived through the McCarthy era. His mother-in-law, author Meridel LeSueur, was targeted by McCarthy for her connections to socialist groups. In 1964, Tilsen testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee about his involvement with a Marxist club while he was a student at the University of Minnesota.

Tilsen told Morning Edition host Cathy Wurzer that McCarthy was taken much more seriously in the 1950s than Bachmann is today.

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