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Newt Gingrich Brawls With Fox News’ Chris Wallace Over Debate ‘Gotcha’ Question

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» 59 comments

While his fellow GOP presidential candidates were busy zinging each other, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich livened up Thursday night’s Fox Presidential Debate by throwing some haymakers at moderator Chris Wallace. Wallace dared to ask Gingrich about his faltering campaign, and Gingrich responded by asking Wallace to “put aside the ‘Gotcha!’ questions,” and accused Wallace of “playing Mickey Mouse games!”

Wallace was having none of it, though, firing back at Newt “If you think questions about your record are Mickey Mouse, I’m sorry, I think those are questions a lot of people want to hear answers to, and you’re responsible for your record.”

Newt offered another rebuttal, critiquing the media for paying too much attention to campaign minutiae, and not on “what makes us different from Barack Obama.”

Wallace mocked Newt in his next question to Jon Huntsman, saying, “At the risk of raising Speaker Gingrich’s ire, I’m going to ask about your record, sir.”

Ouch!

Here’s the clip, from Fox News:

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  • RP22

    Night of the Living Dead…

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Steven-Tyler/100001071466947 Steven Tyler

    Way to go Newt!

  • News Of The World

    Turned to it for a few minutes during a break in the first NFL pre-season game tonight (which is far more important)… What a bunch of creepy backwards hillbillies standing behind those podiums!

  • Anonymous

    lol…the King of the Obama personal attack is now squealing like a punk ass bitch.
    It couldn’t get any funnier.

  • Greg

    Nothing to loose but everything, hence….

  • Anonymous

    Gotcha Questions appear to be any inquiry that ends in a question mark.

  • Anonymous

    I wonder if the teabaggers will whine so much again that Wallace will have to shuffle onto Fox later tonight to apologize like last time.

  • The_Reasonable_Lib

    Newt says:
    Don’t believe a word of what you’ve heard in the liberal media. The staff changes have been great!

  • The_Reasonable_Lib

    Newt says:
    Don’t believe a word of what you’ve heard in the liberal media. The staff changes have been great!

  • Greg

    Best debate ever… Could use more cowbell though.

  • Anonymous

    newt is a fool, wallace asked a reasonable question………but newt has been a fool for a long time

  • Anonymous

    dont fear the reaper

  • Greg

    That man just made the best point of the night…oh wait… That was a casino advertisement.

  • Greg

    Loyalty tests…awesome!

  • The_Reasonable_Lib

    I disagree. I think Newt is a politically reasonable man who actually wants the power too much so he’s willing to pander to the base. His desire to balance the budget was absolutely great and he actually was willing to incorporate tax increases alongside entitlement reform. He was honest and criticized the Ryan bill. If more people saw that side rather than the man urging purity tests, criticizing clinton while having his own affair, etc etc etc, he’d have a large amount of support. Instead you’ve got the guy who causes people to hang up when you do fundraising calls. I wish he would just say something he means and stick behind it.

  • The_Reasonable_Lib

    Santorum feels very left out. Paul is kicking ass.

  • Greg

    Santorum/ Paul 2012

  • Anonymous

    he would sell his soul for power, that why i think he is a fool. he just goes which way the wind is blowing. so far i have not seen anyone worth voting for…..maybe paul  

  • The_Reasonable_Lib

    You can’t have the awesome that is Ron Paul on the same ticket as Santorum. I’ll leave it to you to lookup what Santorum means.

  • Greg

    Romney is losing ground… Transparently hedging toward lunacy and hence no applause.

  • The_Reasonable_Lib

    I have yet to hear him actually say something. It’s all bash Obama.

  • Greg

    EPA reign of terror? Too much Simpson’s movie.

  • The_Reasonable_Lib

    I’m loving Paul tonight, he’s the only one who seems to be saying anything that makes any sense. I’d probably vote for him if he were a little more central fiscally. Gop field is looking thin, Perry might be the dark horse, he’s very popular with the evangelicals I’ve talked to. All he’ll have to do is throw in some anti-muslim stuff. Personally my wish would be for mayor Cory Booker to throw his hat in for the Dems. If he does that Obama can kiss my ass, Booker 2012.

  • Anonymous

    Newt’s the funniest one of the bunch.  No one makes me laugh (out loud, I mean) like the Newtster.  His facial expressions alone are hilarious but those lines he dellivers!  I know others in the group have good material, too, but nobody puts it together like Gingrich.  Nobody delivers the laughs like he does.

  • Greg

    The only thing that could make this better would be for Parry to walk on stage with a dead coyote…

  • News Of The World

    LMAO!

  • Anonymous

    Doesn’t sound like the Newster will be invited back as a co-host on FOX any time soon.  

  • Anonymous

    They better get used to the ‘Gotcha’ abuse. We have a President that’s going to attack on all fronts because his record sucks and the American people won’t get fooled by that cute little slogan ‘Hope And Change’ again. 1 Billion to spend, they’ll know each one of these candidates inside and out and with help from CNN and MSNBC, I’m afraid this was child’s play to what will come if Newt is considered a threat.

  • Notyourlucy

    Quoting Palin is an automatic fail.  It’s quitting. Newt=I’m not really running, just pay me money for my book.

  • NeverWrong

    I am not a fan of Newt as far as him being our President but, I was glad to see him kick Chris Wallace in the balls and put him in his place. Good grief, Chris Wallace is the biggest bore on the planet. Why FOX News keeps him on as their Sunday morning guy is beyond me. He should be on LSDnbnc

  • Anonymous

    It’s always a gotcha question when you don’t have a good answer.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Dave-Be/1751243136 Dave Be

    I’m not a Ron Paul fan, but he did really impress me tonight.  If he’d back off just a little on some of his more radical ideas I could get behind the guy.  I thought his foreign policy answers were awesome.  I’m sick of wasting American lives fighting halfway around the world where the people don’t even want us.  The problem is that he doesn’t just want to stop getting into pointless wars, he wants to pull out of NATO and the UN. 

  • No

    Nice sleight of hand on Newt’s part in deflecting attention from the subject by pitching a fit.  

  • No

    Wallace should be thanking Newt for finally giving him something remotely titillating to gab about with the local Fox news anchors.  He’s probably thrilled.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5RUO27TT2UMQDLC44KQL2RMNAQ Deedww Deed

    very good go go—-wwwhappyshopping100com
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  • Anonymous

    It’s all a waste of time, anyway. When Supersonic Sarah Palin announces, all these RINOs, wannabees, & also-rans will pick up their marbles and shuffle away. She will make wimpy Chris Wallace roll over & beg.

  • Valkyrie101

    Made him look bad. He should be grateful he was not asked about the Tiffany bill.

  • Anonymous

    Just as Barack Hussein Obama ll was born & raised a muslim/communist, Chris Wallace was born & raised a liberal/d-bag.

    No matter how hard one tries to hide the truth, you are what you are for life.

    Wallace, like all rotten to the core  ’ good little libs ‘ reverted to his/their ‘ 10 year old mean girl ‘ stance when going on to John Huntsman. 

    Even the most rabid left wing bomb thrower knows the difference between questioning someone on their campaign ( Gingrich ) rather than on their pasrt record & what they will do ( as president ),  ( Huntman ) is not for a debate such as this, but rather the nightly punditry debate on MSNBC.

    Wall-azs just could not help ( reverting to his roots ) himself as we have seen many, many times before.

    And the libs complain ” FOX ” is not ” FAIR & BALANCED “. To that I call bullshid

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NK5INRFELITZ3TS337HINC3VMM Adam

    While I thought Wallace’s question was fair and not necessarily “gotcha”, Newt did have a point in his response. When you’ve got only 2 hours(including commercial breaks and constant applause, particularly for anything Ron Paul says) and 8 candidates all vying for time, do we really need to waste even 1 or 2 minutes on the quality of the campaign being run by any of the nominees? Why don’t we talk about issues? For the entire debate, not a single question was asked about entitlement reform. That’s likely to be the key issue in 2012 aside from the economy.

    Besides, a candidate running a good campaign is meaningless. Obama constantly cited that as the main qualifier for being him prepared for the Presidency all throughout 2008 and look how that turned out.

  • Valkyrie101

    And yet you write a whole post ripping that fairness and balance by saying that Wallace is rotten to the core for asking Newt a tough question. Why?

  • gordonbloyershow

    Unlike the creepy liar standing behind a phony name, like YOU. Why are liars like you afraid to stand behind your ignorant comments? Just how many hours a day do you lay in the pig pen to get all that dirt all over yourself?

  • gordonbloyershow

    Let me see, we know who is making the “attacks” unlike YOUR attacks. Newt’s “attacks” are the truth unlike your attacks. How many bully’s beat you up as a kid? You are a truly pathetic loser.

  • Anonymous

    Respectfully, think about this before reacting:  Gingrich is the candidate who would best square off in a debate with Obama.

    They both represent their respective philosophies and are each other’s antithesis.  Gingrich is a seasoned historian and political authority.  His ability to articulate the facts is ‘nulli secundus.’

    Of course, the real question is: Who do we want or need for a President?  However, (to use Boxing analogies) if we are looking for the “Thrilla in Manilla,” a “Rumble in Jungle,” (regards to Muhammed Ali) then Gingrich is the man who can defeat Obama’s oratory, decisively.

  • Anonymous

    Have always enjoyed, not always agreed with Posts.  You do call it like you see it.  The creepy thing is that I have this vision of you as the guy in picture with the cigarette in his mouth!  LOL

    At first glance, the cropped photo, may or may not be Obama?  So, in my head that picture is of you…

    The mind, my mind works in strange ways.  Ouch!

  • Anonymous

    Well, Newt just went out in a blaze of… shit, I can’t even type that with a straight face…

  • Anonymous

    LOL

    What a consummate loser you are!

  • Anonymous

    Resist, you much!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1275435195 Dennis Chimelis

    I’m not a Gingrich fan but does asking about the state of his campaign have anything to do with the issues during a presidential debate?  The reporters are supposed to be serving as moderators and focusing on questions as they relate to a candidates views and record, not grilling them with questions that are of interest only to political junkies and hosts of Sunday morning news programs.

    I’m not sure if any of the candidates were served well by Fox News last night.

  • caconservative

    That was nothing more than a cheap shot by Chris. I was surprised at his comment because Chirs is usually professional in his demeanor.

  • http://www.darklady.com/ Darklady

    How the *hell* is asking someone about their campaign a “gotcha” question? 

    If this pompous wimp can’t even answer a simple question like that, how on earth is he going to deal with genuine hard questions and issues? Bad mouthing Obama should only get them so far far. 

    Eventually these clowns need to talk about what they’ve done and what they would hope to do as president.

  • scragsma

    Gingrich was correct: Wallace was NOT asking him about his record, but rather about his campaign. Not the same thing at all.

  • Independent

    Chris Wallace: “Ambassador Huntsmann, you’re sane. Why are you running alongside these fools?”

  • JC

    Newt became very unpopular when working on the “Contract with America” when he was speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.  I think that it was the details in that Contract (which was significantly transparent) that helped boost US dignity and the economy to the levels that Clinton enjoyed.  I do appreciate that his personal life is not that of “Ward Cleaver” however, in my opinion, he has worked more on behalf for the average American than the rich American or himself or his ego, than anyone running for President, including the current occupant.  I would not be unhappy with Newt as the candidate.  He has historical and political knowledge and experience like past Speaker Sam Rayburn.  Based on the Contract with America, President Gingrich would be awesome.  If he’s not the candidate, he would be a valuable cabinet member.

  • Glutton

    Was glad Ron Paul wasn’t afraid to back down from a fight. He tore into Perry about his HPV mandate & the rest of the Republicans followed his example. Not the first time the Republicans followed in Paul’s example (opposition to debt, opposition to war, etc.). Just nominateRon Paul for crying out loud. He always ends up being right about everything. Unless of course the Republicans actually want Obama to win.

  • Glutton

    Gingrich is well spoken, but I think it’s funny that he took credit for the Clinton economy. Nuthatch logic, Tip O’Neil deserves the credit for Reagan’s economy & Boehner deserves the credit for Obama’s economy.

  • Glutton

    Why did Huntsman take the job as Obama’s ambassador to China? Hewould’ve been a great candidate otherwise.

  • Glutton

    Wallace’s question was perfectly fine. Whenever Newt can’t answer a question he’ll say it’s a gotcha question. I would like to see someone ask Newt, “former speaker, you say youwill support a constitutional amendment to uphold the sanctity of marriage but how could you do that when you’re divorced 2 times & even had to resign as speaker for cheating on your wife (twice)?”

  • Glutton

    It does when you’re running on reducing the debt & your campaign is running up a debt.

  • Anonymous

    In 40 or more years, we have had luke-warm blah-blah politics with the assumption of inevtitable socialism, of declining western society, and appeasement of communists and radical Islam taken for granted.  For the first time in modern memory, ALL of the Republican candidates are in agreement on the impending calamity of the crash of western society, economies, freedom, and liberty.  And they are in agreement on Obama’s destruction of US society and contempt for the Constitution.  They are certainly not perfect — but they are actually saying what most people think.  It is astounding.  If you don’t get it and if you don’t think that the danger is real, move to Greece – or Israel.

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