Bachmann openly advocated against raising the debt ceiling to allow the U.S. to continue to borrow, a move that policy experts from both parties believed would lead to default.
Wallace invoked the recent debt ceiling drama, and noted that credit rating agency Standard & Poor's cited political considerations -- including the serious consideration of default among some members of Congress -- when downgrading its AAA credit rating on U.S. debt.
Bachmann claimed she had never advocated for default, but had put a plan on the table that would have denied an increase in the debt ceiling and instead required the Treasury Department to prioritize payments to U.S. creditors, Social Security recipients, Medicare beneficiaries and the U.S. military.
When Wallace noted that doing so would have required defunding a majority of government programs, from unemployment benefits to the FBI, Bachmann suggested that she was not bothered by that prospect.
"Doesn't that tell you how bad off the U.S. is -- the fact that we're overspending to that amount?" Bachmann said.
When asked how she would be able to work with Democrats to reassure markets if she were elected president, Bachmann said she would "work tirelessly" to ensure that the Republican Party picked up 13 seats in the Senate, giving Republicans a filibuster-proof majority to enact her agenda.
"That would send a very strong signal to the market," Bachmann said.
