Michele Bachmann: 'I could run' in 2016

Michele Bachmann: &#039;I could run&#039; in 2016 — (Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) says she just might make a second run at the White House in 2016, if only to ensure there is a female GOP-er in the race.

"The only thing that the media has speculated on is that it's going to be various men that are running," she told Real Clear Politics. "They haven't speculated, for instance, that I'm going to run. What if I decide to run? And there's a chance I could run."

Bachmann, who will retire from office when her term runs out at the end of the year, enjoyed a brief, early stint atop the 2012 GOP field. But her bid fizzled amid campaign defections and gaffes — most notably her claim that the HPV vaccine could cause mental retardation — and she withdrew after a dismal sixth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. She has since become the subject of multiple ethics investigations, though she insisted the inquiries had nothing to do with her decision to leave office.

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Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.