Politics

Gingrich says consultants left campaign in debt

C.J. Ciaramella Contributor
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GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Monday that his former campaign staff, which he characterizes as outside consultants, drove his campaign into debt.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times before marching in a Fourth of July parade in Clear Lake, Iowa, the former House speaker said his second-quarter fundraising report will be disappointing, but he blamed much of it on departed staff and one of his favorite hobby-horses, the media.

“The fact is a month of media barrage is painful, and it slowed a lot of things down,” Gingrich said. “Our numbers will not be as good as we would like, and candidly, the consultants left us in debt. But every single week since they left we’ve been cutting down the debt, and we raise more than we spend in a week.”

Gingrich has painted much of his departed staff, many of whom left his campaign in a mass resignation in June, as outside consultants who didn’t agree with his non-traditional campaign strategies. For much of his early campaign, Gingrich has eschewed the traditional on-the-ground tactics in favor of television appearances and pushing his new book, A Nation Like No Other.

Gingrich said he expects the third quarter report to be “very healthy.” His second-quarter fundraising reports will be made public on July 15.