Reprehensible': Bachmann and O'Reilly Respond to 8-Year-Old Boy Confronting Her on Gay Rights

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann said Wednesday it was "reprehensible" that a mother used her 8-year-old son to confront her about gay rights during a recent campaign stop.

The 8-year-old boy, identified only as Elijah, was shown on video telling the Minnesota congresswoman, "My mommy's gay but she doesn’t need fixing." The video has been viewed more than 3.4 million times on YouTube since it was uploaded Dec. 4.

"This little boy was looking down at his toes.  He obviously didn't want to say what he was put up to say.  And I just think it's reprehensible when someone uses a little child to advance a political agenda," Bachmann told CNN's John King.

"That's what was going on in a book signing. I'd never do that to one of my children, and it's really unfortunate that this poor, little boy was used in that way."

Bachmann reiterated her conviction that marriage should be between a man and a woman and said she is unashamed of that.

Watch the clip below, via CNN:

Bill O'Reilly also blasted Elijah's mother Wednesday, calling her "cowardly" and accusing her of hiding behind her son for political purposes.

"It was obvious that the little boy was coached," O'Reilly said on his Fox News show. "8-year-olds don't say stuff like that."

O'Reilly's guest, gay rights activist Sally Kohn, disagreed.

"Kids aren't raised in vacuums, they see the political discourse going around them," Kohn said. "This kid probably sees his family, his mother being attacked by politicians like Michele Bachmann and no doubt he has a very clear opinion that his mom is a great mom and shouldn't be a political football."

"I think you're living in the land of Oz," O'Reilly dismissed. "I have an 8-year-old son...none of them are thinking about gay rights, and none of them would say, as this child did, 'My mommy's gay but she doesn't need any fixing.'"

He said if the mother truly wanted to make a point to Bachmann, she should have said it to her herself.

"You say it lady, let your kid be a kid, not be a political commentator to a sitting congresswoman. I just think it's appalling," O'Reilly said. "It doesn't help her cause or the gay cause at all. I don't think you use 8-year-old children or any children to make political points."

Watch the clip below, via Mediaite: