Michele Bachmann's John Wayne Gaffe

Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann made an embarrassing gaffe that the whole country is talking about. INSIDE EDITION has more.

Michele Bachmann spoke out about the gaffe the whole country is talking about.  

"People can make mistakes and I wish I could be perfect every time I say something, but I can't," she said.

The blunder happened right after Bachmann declared her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. She made this comment during a TV interview in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa:   

"Just like John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too."

She was trying to invoke the spirit of movie icon John Wayne, but The Washington Times website immediately proclaimed she had "The wrong John Wayne" and the only one from Waterloo with that name was John Wayne Gacy, the notorious serial killer from the 1970's who dressed like a clown.

Bloggers jumped on the mistake with headlines like, "Bachmann Mixes Up John Wayne, John Wayne Gacy," and "Right town, wrong John Wayne."

Even David Letterman weighed in last night:

"She said, 'I'm going to run my campaign in the same spirit as John Wayne, also from Waterloo.' Well, and this is what makes me crazy, it turns out John Wayne is not from Waterloo," said Letterman.

John Wayne the movie legend was actually born in Winterset, Iowa, 150 miles from Waterloo, where his parents once lived.

Bachmann defended herself on CNN: "John Wayne's parents' first home was in Waterloo, Iowa, and he was from Iowa," she said.

Now some are wondering if Bachmann was the victim of a cheap shot and if her gaffe was being overblown.

But Politico senior editor Beth Frerking says, "I'm sure that many of her supporters probably looked at this and thought, 'Oh for heaven's sakes, overblown, anybody could make that mistake'...The problem is, she's not anybody."

Another blow to Bachmann's candidacy came from her former Congressional Chief of Staff, who says she is not ready to be President.

Ron Carey writes in The Des Moines Register: "I know Michele Bachmann very well. She is a faithful conservative with great oratory skills, but without any leadership experience or real results from her years in office. She is not prepared to assume the White House in 2013."