One of the few big battles of Saturday’s New Hampshire presidential debate came when Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich fought over military records. Paul has been attacking Gingrich for not serving in the military while supporting potential military action in places like Iran.
Gingrich responded that he wasn’t able to be drafted because he was married with a child. However, Paul had a ready answer to that… A very cutting answer.
Paul attacked Gingrich for getting Vietnam deferments, and Gingrich tried to push back. Here’s what it sounded and looked like:
The transcript:
PAUL: I don’t like it when we send our kids off to fight these wars and when those individuals didn’t go themselves, and then come up and when they’re asked they say, ‘Oh I don’t think one person could have made a difference.’ I have a pet peeve that annoys me to a great deal because when I see these young men coming back my heart weeps for them.
GINGRICH: Dr Paul has a long history of saying things that are inaccurate and false. The fact is I never asked for a deferment, I was married with a child, it was never a question. My father was in fact serving in Vietnam in the Me-Kong delta at the time he’s referring to. I think I have a pretty good idea of what it’s like as a family to worry about your family getting killed. And I personally resent the kind of comments an aspersions he routinely makes without accurate information.
PAUL: I need one quick follow up: When I was drafted, I was married and had two kids. And I went.
The video:
Evan McMorris-Santoro
Evan McMorris-Santoro has covered politics for TPM since 2009. Before that, he was a reporter at National Journal’s Hotline covering election 2008. He started his career covering local politics at newspapers in TN and his native NC.
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