On Sunday’s “Meet the Press” on NBC, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich went on the offensive regarding the media’s handling of conservative talker Rush Limbaugh in the wake of his controversial remarks last week.
According to Gingrich, there are other topics more worthy of attention than Limbaugh’s ill-advised remarks.
“I am astonished at the desperation of the elite media to avoid rising gas prices, to avoid the president’s apology to religious fanatics in Afghanistan, to avoid a trillion-dollar deficit, to avoid the longest period of unemployment since the Great Depression, and to suddenly decide that Rush Limbaugh is the great national crisis of the week,” Gingrich said.
Gingrich also questioned the prominence of the contraception issue in media culture.
“There’s no debate about access to contraception,” he continued. “You … have this weird situation where President Obama apologizes to Islamic extremists while waging war against the Catholic Church. That’s the language, by the way, of the Catholic bishops. You have an issue here of whether the government can coerce the Catholic Church, not just into … contraception, but into sterilization and abortion, something I don’t find any reporter wants to talk about. You have a president who voted for infanticide as as a state senator, who represents the most extreme pro-abortion position in America.”
Later, host David Gregory attempted to steer the discussion back to Limbaugh, leading to this back-and-forth:
GREGORY: Can I just get to my question? Do you think it was harmful…
GINGRICH: Sure.
GREGORY: … that Limbaugh — certainly an influential voice in the conservative grassroots, and you well know that — was it appropriate for him to apologize? Do you think he’s done damage to the debate that you’re now getting into?
GINGRICH: OK. Look, I think–I think it was appropriate for Rush to apologize, I’m glad he apologized. Do you think the president owes an apology to all the men and women in uniform who he, frankly, abandoned when he apologized to religious fanatics in Afghanistan? What’s your opinion, David?
GREGORY: Well…
GINGRICH: Should the president apologize to men and women in uniform that he abandoned?
GREGORY: Well, I’m going to continue with my question, so…
GINGRICH: If you want to get into a discussion about apologies, I’m happy to discuss it.