Rep. Bachmann’s response won’t be aired by most television networks

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) might not get the national audience she’d hoped for Tuesday evening, when she delivers her response to the State of the Union address.

Only one television network — CNN — plans to air Bachmann’s response to President Obama in its entirety, which she’ll deliver separately from the official Republican response. She will make her remarks to the Tea Party Express, which will live-stream her speech on its website.

{mosads}NBC, CBS, ABC and the Fox broadcast network won’t air Bachmann’s address, according to spokesmen.

On cable, Fox News won’t carry Bachmann’s speech, nor will MSNBC, which “will report on it, but [does not] plan to air it live,” according to a spokesman.

CNN, by contrast, will air Bachmann’s speech “live and in its entirety,” according to a spokeswoman. C-SPAN will also carry a portion of her remarks before referring viewers to its special website to watch the rest of the speech. CBS will air the speech live online and cover it in its live, post-State of the Union webcast anchored by Katie Couric and other members of the network’s political team. ABC will have a complete wrap of the State of the Union on its “Nightline” program, which will cover the Bachmann response, according to a spokesman. ABC will broadcast Bachmann’s speech online, however.

Obama’s speech is set for 9 p.m. EST Tuesday night, and a response by the party in opposition has become a yearly tradition. This year, Republican leaders in Congress settled on Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, to deliver that speech.

But Bachmann, the chairwoman of the Tea Party Caucus, turned heads last week when she announced that she would be delivering her own, separate response to Obama, in coordination with one of the largest Tea Party groups.

The three-term lawmaker downplayed her speech when speaking to reporters in Minnesota on Monday.

“I’m just reacting to what President Obama is saying, to the Tea Party Express group,” Bachmann said, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “It’s not meant to be in competition in any way. Paul Ryan is the official GOP response and he’ll do a wonderful job.”

Bachmann told Minnesota reporters the Tea Party Express requested that she address its membership via its website.

Her speech comes after moves she had made earlier this month that drew considerable media attention, including a trip to Iowa to flirt with a run for president in 2012, and an invitation to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to address members of Congress on the Constitution.

Some conservatives have cozied up to the speech. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) said he was OK with it, as have Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

But House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) seemed less than thrilled about Bachmann’s rebuttal.

“Paul Ryan is giving the official Republican response,” Cantor told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday. “Michele Bachmann, just as the other 534 members of the House and Senate are, [is] going to have opinions as to the State of the Union.”