Politics

Gingrich wants apology, says wife is being treated like Nancy Reagan

Steven Nelson Associate Editor
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Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich continues his campaign for president following an exodus of high-level staff over a vacation he took to Europe.

On Greta Van Susteren’s television program on Fox News Wednesday night, Gingrich said that people who blame his campaign’s troubles on his wife Callista owe her an apology.

The presidential candidate criticized NBC for discussing reports that quoted “cowardly people, who, frankly, lied about my wife — and I believe NBC owes Callista an apology,” Gingrich said.

“Look, Callista and I have a very similar relationship to Nancy and Ronnie Reagan,” Gingrich said. “And people blame Nancy Reagan for things that Ronald Reagan did.”

Gingrich said he has “no idea” whether Callista Gingrich had difficulties with staff members, deflecting the question by volunteering his own internal conflicts with staff.

“I wanted to run an idea-oriented, grass-roots, solutions-based campaign that used Facebook and YouTube and all sorts of exciting things,” Gingrich said. “And we had a couple staff members who wanted to run a 1952 campaign that I thought was hopeless and couldn’t possibly win.”

(Gingrich says he feels ‘liberated’ by staff exodus)

Van Susteren asked Gingrich about the president’s economic policies. “It’s the Obama depression, and he ought to have some sense of concern for the pain,” Gingrich said.

Gingrich also addressed a Tuesday ABC News report about a Gingrich non-profit giving money to a for-profit Gingrich company.

“You know, that report is so inaccurate,” Gingrich said. “Reverend Jim Garlow of San Diego, who’s the head of Renewing American Leadership, sent me a very despairing e-mail yesterday and said he told the facts to the ABC reporter and he was told by the ABC reporter, frankly, they didn’t care what the facts were, they were going to do a hit piece. And they just — they actually literally didn’t care what the facts were.”