Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Michelle Bachmann’s ‘Chutzpah’ Gaffe

Michele Bachmann needs to work on her “chutzpah.”

Image by Getty Images

The GOP presidential candidate attempted to use the word on Fox News Wednesday night — but while the Christian Midwesterner’s embrace of Yiddish is striking, her pronunciation would have caused confusion in the shtetl. The Minnesota congresswoman, on a tear in Iowa polls but as gaffe-prone as ever, accused President Obama of chutzpah during the current battle over raising the debt ceiling. But the congresswoman, whose religious views on gays are currently under attack, pronounced the guttural “ch” sound as you would in “church” rather than “Channukah.” (Fine that’s not the way we spell it, but we’re highlighting a point.)

Despite her own last name, Bachmann apparently isn’t aware of all the possible pronunciations of “ch.” Fox News host Greta Van Susteren, not a known Yiddish expert, didn’t correct her.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.