During a 2007 interview with Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker told me that if he ran for president, he would probably announce via an hour-long speech on C-SPAN — and would not participate in any debates unless the format was one-on-one.
Gingrich criticized 2008 GOP candidates, saying,
Some of them thought that they would announce [for president] on Lenno or Letterman … I would probably do it on C-SPAN. And I’d probably do it with an hour-long speech. I’d probably say, you know, saving America…it takes an hour. This is serious stuff. You have to deal with it as adults.
(Yesterday, Gingrich Tweeted out his campaign announcement on YouTube.)
Gingrich also told me that he doesn’t like large debates, which he called “an extended press conference,” but added that,
I would be happy, one-on-one, to debate any Democrat or any Republican for 90 minutes…because that’s a real debate. But I wouldn’t go and stand as one of 12 or 15 people, waiting patiently for some reporter to decide which question to throw me.
It is unclear whether or not Gingrich will participate in upcoming multi-candidate GOP debates.
You can watch our 2007 conversation here: