CNN wasted no time in asking Newt Gingrich the burning question of the day: did he, as his wife claims in interviews, ask for an open marriage so he could carry on his affair with then-mistress Callista Gingrich? Gingrich wasted no time in slamming the media every which way for asking.
“No,” he said when asked if he wanted to address the issue. The audience burst into wild applause at his response. “I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country harder to attract decent people to run for office. I’m appalled you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that.”
The crowd in the palm of his hand, a visibly enraged Gingrich continued on a tirade against CNN for raising the question and the news media for promoting his ex-wife’s story, which he denied was true.
“Every person in here knows personal pain,” he said. “Every person in here has had someone close to them go through painful things. To take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary, a significant question in a presidential campaign, is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine.”
He said that “my two daughters wrote the head of ABC and made the point that it was wrong, that they should pull it, and I am, frankly, astounded that CNN would take trash like that and use it to open a presidential debate.”
When moderator John King noted that CNN hadn’t originated the story, Gingrich kept up the attack.
“John, it was repeated by your network. You chose to start the debate with it. Don’t blame it on somebody else,” he said, before again being interrupted by the audience’s roaring approval.
As for the substance of the story, Gingrich said “the story is false” and that “every personal friend I have who knew us in that period says the story was false.”
He added that his campaign “offered several of them to abc to prove it was false. They weren’t interested because they would like to attack any Republican.”
Benjy Sarlin
Benjy Sarlin is a reporter for Talking Points Memo and co-writes the campaign blog, TPM2012. He previously reported for The Daily Beast/Newsweek as their Washington Correspondent and covered local politics for the New York Sun.
yes- its trash- YOUR trash you ass. Duh!
The truth of it is, no one cares about who he slept with anymore than anyone cared about who Bill Clinton slept with. Newt is just a despicable person, plain and simple.
I'm a strong conservative, but I think Newt is a terrible candidate.
He cheated on his wife and also got $1.6 million from Freddie Mac--which is part of the biggest bailout in world history (lots of Democrats took money as well).
Newt is not a real conservative but a phony.
Total Southern Vajjentleman!!
His first remarks are a master class in audacity and sheer chutzpah.
The Newtster will be a CAKEWALK for the President and the Democrats in general.
I was with him all the way until he made it about Obama.
When Bill Clinton was despicable, liberals tolerated it and said it had nothing to do with running the country; when the liberal media is despicable, liberals want to turn the attention to the person calling them despicable. I have no idea what Newt's "private life (the term used for Clinton's private life) was like when he allegedly cheated on his ex and left his other ex but what I do know is he is by far the smartest person considering the presidency and in my opinion the one most able to lead the country in every area! Go Newt!
lisakhutch Bill Clinton did not run on a family values platform nor did he advocate that gay people shouldn't marry because it would destroy the institution of marriage. When you run on such a platform, then violate said values...it is a character issue. For one it makes you a hypocrite. It shows that you lack any moral character. So when Bill Clinton was busted cheating on his wife, yeah it was no big deal to most people since he didn't bring the "sanctity of marriage" or "Christian family values" into his political platform to deny rights to a class of Americans. Newt on the otherhand has done this. This make Newt a dishonest, lying, hypocritical POS. Get a clue Lisa...please...
lisakhutch And you were good with Clinton Lewinski?
Newt forfeited the right to use the word 'despicable' when he cheated and divorced the first wife with cancer and the second wife with MS, now that is despicable.
And he never called prez Clinton to account for his personal pecadillos either. Except for that whole impeachment thing. D.L. Hugley had it right on The Last Word last night; If you leave your wife and the mother of your children when she's on her death bed you forfeit the right to describe anything or anyone as despicable. Stick to discussing your ridiculous policy positions instead.
"Despicable" is the word - but not for the free press! For the despicable character flaw that is the NEWT!
Gingrich's tactic is STRAIGHT out of the Nixon playbook. Politico mentioned the lineage. As Perlstein's book Nixonland described, Nixon skillfully embraced the persona of a victim of elites, appealing to others who felt that way. Gingrich does the same here.
Gingrich is a bully. He is the grown version of Harry Potters’ fat bully cousin that exemplified spoiled, self indulging, grandiose, self righteous ignorance and insensitivity. Unfortunately, this image is also the general projection of a significant percentage of the current republican base. For years extremist republicans have slandered, lied, misstated, misconstrued and belittle everything about the President of the United States. At times they have even taken unwarranted shots at his wife and family. Yet, when you do unto them, this supposedly Christian extremist influence becomes defensive, argumentative and abusive. Indicative of the war mongering, malice filled and destructively selfish lot they are. Those that would claim the right of free speech and freedom of the press seem to conveniently forget those rights are for all Americans, not just them, because they consider themselves better than the rest of us. This republican field and I dare say the primary itself is a side show with no goals, no plans and one objective - destruction of our way of life for the last 50 plus years. Gingrich is practicing an old republican method of censorship by intimidation.
It's the best of both worlds. Newt can use all this crazy ass stuff to murder Romney in crackerville. And Romney is the only one of these idiots who comes close to Obama in the real world. It is like they are devouring themselves from the inside out.
If my memory is correct. Newt led a lynch mob to impeach President Clinton. This proves how hipocritical Newt and the Republican party can be. But we have a saying in Oklahoma , Whats good for the goose is good for the gander. I don't know this turkey's.
He's feigning the outrage--he actually loves this stuff. It was the best possible way for him to begin the debate, hitting all the buttons (esp. the "elite media" one) with his usual snarling contempt, and with a Republican audience that eats it up like buzzards on roadkill.
Cube Zombie Newt will give Palin a new cabinet position... "Czar of Outlawing Gotcha Questions" and removing all media from the airwaves.
Cynner And If he's feeling particularly patriotic on a given night, he might give her something more.
Cube ZombieCynner But nothing grand to write home about.....
For this man to utter the word despicable after leaving his wife and kids while he wife was suffering from a challenging medical condition and after asking her to accept his adultery, is hardly in a position to call someone else despicable.
hoconnor208 Not to mention leaving them with no money, no child support... Guess that's why one of his daughter's was a janitor in their church during her teenage years.
Sadly, someone needs to take this piece of pasty flesh on mano-e-mano and tell him that REAL men take care of their families, they don't make their children give up their childhoods or development years cleaning toilets for rich people.
I truly wish there was a journalist / author / talk show host who would take this psychopath on about his own beliefs.
Because we all know what happens when the Pillsbury dough-boy is poked.
Newt is the new Herman
Can't believe him about credit cards either:
New study finds 1 in 10 Americans are victims of credit card fraud By Lucy Lazarony • Bankrate.com
"One of the real problems has been that with the technology out there it's relatively easy to make a duplicate credit card." http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cc/20000927.asp
And that's how Newt proposes to fix the illegal immigrant problem.
I don't think "govern" means what Newt thinks it means.
Newt calling someone ELSE "despicable" is perhaps THE crowning example of the republican projection that we encounter in online forums every day. Conservatives are terrific at identifying their own egregious flaws and then self-righteously assigning them to someone else, where they are more comfortable criticizing them.
How phucking phoney can one human being be ?
This is the Guy that tried to impeach the President
while trying to set up a three way .
Who's despicable, Newt?
Newt did not have a problem with all the media hype about Lewinski and Bill Clinton! The hypocritical slime ball also pushed for the Defense of Marriage Act! He really has a lot of gall. And the people who cheered him on at the debate last night apparently have no morals either!
Cyndie Harper- Williams Not surprising, since they're the "Let them Die!" crowd.
Luv them crackers... and GOP candy-dates They luvs their family values, ethical standards and, er, foibles.
The "liberal media" is a get-out-of-jail-free card on the Right. It's just astounding how deeply they believe it. When Agnew started this meme under Nixon's guiance, they knew it was a lie but figured it was good strategy, like a basetball coach working the refs. They've actually come to believe their own false rhetoric.
Another thing- was that an "I did not have sex with that woman" moment when Gingrich claimed the story was false? There won't be a stained dress, but what if there are witnesses to support Wife 2? Not that I give a damn, I'd just love to watch Newt squim.
laborlawyer didn't he own up to the affairs back in the day? he may be denying the particular narrative but i seem to recall that he admitted he was playing the field, er, working the refs, er, fooling around.
laborlawyer If you read the Esquire piece linked to from here a couple days back, Newt is claimed in there to have preferred the oral method for precisely that reason. And there is an anecdote from someone described as his friend about Newt getting such a job in his car while the friend accompanied the two young (and short) daughters past, after a HS football game or some such event.
laborlawyer Wait until they get to talking about wife #1. He served her divorce papers while she was undergoing cancer treatment in a hospital,that after she paid his way through college.
gingrich: “every personal friend I have who knew us in that period says the story was false.”
what the...? how would they...? you expect us to...?
lordie, newt, that is some classic deflection right there. that's almost as bad as herman cain's "my wife said, 'honey, that doesn't even sound like you.'"
It's a little PAST time for the GOP candidates to be acting as though they're running for president of their KLAVERN rather than for president of the United States.
But they continue to play RIGHT into President Obama's hands.
gotta give it to him.
he flipped it on john, who just handed South Carolina to Newt.
kennyenglish
That cracker backwater is PERFECT for Gingrich.
Newt couldn't think of anything more despicable than being asked about his past infidelities. ...
... But I could, like serving your first wife divorce papers while she hospitalize for cancer.
... or, the hypocrisy of impeaching Clinton for minor sexual indiscretion while engaging in one your self.
None of that means a hill of beans in SC. This was the first state to succeed from the union for the right to enslave their fellow citizens. It's all about the hate and anger and intollerance: all things Ggrich has proved he's aces at, especially with his ex wives.
Tim I think you mean "secede" from the Union. SC has never succeeded at anything.
I'm appalled Newt considers this dog & pony show a "presidential" debate. A little ahead of the game aren't you, arrogant troll-man?
You know, Newt, it's just that some people think a pompous race-baiting skankwad like you shouldn't be president. It's really that simple, so get over it.
There is no such thing as a familiy values Republican who is still considering voting for Gingrich.
The crackerati would LOVE a snatched...Botoxed....bleached....hatchet-faced First Lady like Calista Gingrich.
Too bad the white trash Gomez and Morticia won't GET there.
ted.underwood "The crackerati "! Perfect!
So Newt, Marianne says Callista was fine with you and Marianne in an open marriage with Callista as the third. But Callista, does that still apply, i.e. will you be OK with Newt seeing another woman now that you and he are married?
It would be great to see Newtys face if someone actually would ask her that. I wonder if Callista would go on the View, i bet Whoopie would ask her that....
Jim Pasterczyk my gawd, Callista is on him like a duck on a June bug, Jim. No one gets being on the ballot in Virginia organized in the Gingrich campaign, but Callista is never more than 4 feet from Newt . Tonight was even a clip where she gives him a wifely wink when he was winding up at a meet and greet. . . I would say Callista would NOT be open to sharing Newtie these days.
Newt is pure ego. He truely believes that he is above everyone else and lives by a different standard. Yes, he rallied to impeach Clinton for his sexual misbehavior. I think newt truely believes that adultery is wrong. He however is special and deserves to be getting something on the side. I someone else had or suggested an open marriage, newt would truely believe they were disgusting human beings. However, he's above everyone else and holds himself to a different standard. Disgusting if someone else does it, only fair if he does it because he's special. I don't think he even felt a twinge of guilt when leaving his 2 wives while they were sick, because he deserves happiness more than they do. He likely even resented THEM for trying to make it difficult on him.
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