Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann told voters in Florida Sunday that Hurricane Irene and the recent East Coast earthquake were just God's way of telling politicians to reign in government spending.

"I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians," Bachmann said during the speech in Sarasota.

"We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?' Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we've got to rein in the spending."

At least 21 people died over the weekend due to the storm.

UPDATE: Bachmann made a similar claim at another event (via Scarce).