Newt Gingrich Quotes

Newton Leroy Gingrich is an American politician and author from the state of Georgia who served as the 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. He represented Georgia's 6th congressional district as a Republican from 1979 until his resignation in 1999. In 2012, Gingrich was a candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomination.

A teacher of history and geography at the University of West Georgia in the 1970s, Gingrich won election to the United States House of Representatives in November 1978, the first Republican in the history of Georgia's 6th congressional district to do so. He served as House Minority Whip from 1989–95, and Speaker of the House from 1995–99. A co-author and architect of the "Contract with America", Gingrich was a major leader in the Republican victory in the 1994 congressional election. In 1995, Time named him "Man of the Year" for "his role in ending the four-decades-long Democratic majority in the House".

As House Speaker, Gingrich oversaw passage by the House of welfare reform and a capital gains tax cut in 1997. The poor showing by Republicans in the 1998 Congressional elections, a reprimand from the House for Gingrich's ethics violation, and pressure from Republican colleagues, resulted in Gingrich's resignation from the speakership on November 6, 1998. He resigned altogether from the House on January 3, 1999.

Since leaving the House, Gingrich has remained active in public policy debates and worked as a political consultant. He founded and chaired several policy think tanks, including American Solutions for Winning the Future and the Center for Health Transformation. He has written or co-authored 27 books. In May 2011, he announced his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. On May 2, 2012, Gingrich ended his presidential campaign and endorsed front runner Mitt Romney, who won the nomination.

✵ 17. June 1943
Newt Gingrich photo
Newt Gingrich: 41   quotes 2   likes

Famous Newt Gingrich Quotes

“The president of the United States, the most radical president in American history, has now thrown down the gauntlet to the American people. He has said, "I run a machine, I own Washington, and there's nothing you can do about it."”

Now, that's where we are.
Coverage of Southern Republican Leadership Conference, CSPAN, 2010-04-08
2010-04-09
Gingrich: Obama is "the most radical president in American history"
Media Matters for America
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201004090011
2011-03-30
2010s

“We have to frankly break the back of the secular-socialist machine, elect people committed to representing the American people, and then methodically rip the system apart.”

The Mark Levin Show
ABC Radio Networks
2010-06-24
Gingrich: We have to "break the back of the secular socialist machine … and then methodically rip the system apart"
2010-05-25
Media Matters for America
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201006250048
2011-03-30
2010s

“What if [Obama] is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior, can you begin to piece together [his actions]? That is the most accurate, predictive model for his behavior.”

"What Was Newt Gingrich Talking About?" http://www.slate.com/content/slate/blogs/weigel/2010/09/12/what_was_newt_gingrich_talking_about.html
2010s

Newt Gingrich Quotes about people

“The goal that the Obama team has is to fundamentally replace the historic America of self-reliance, independence, the work ethic, the people who go out and achieve because they spend their lifetime doing the right things. And they want to replace it with a politician-dominated redistributionist bureaucracy. Which in the essence would mean the end of America as it has been for the last 400 years.”

The Glenn Beck Program
Premiere Radio Networks
2010-05-17
2010-05-17
On Beck's radio show, Gingrich says Obama admin. is trying to "end … America as it has been for the last 400 years"
Media Matters for America
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201005170030
2011-03-30
2010s

“People like me are what stand between us and Auschwitz. I see evil around me every day.”

1994
January
Atlanta Journal and Constitution, quoted in [2011-10-19, NewtWit!, Tom, Connor, Doubleday, 9780307804792, http://books.google.com/books?id=wosfsJKIBuUC&pg=PT8]
1990s

“I'm opposed to giving people money for doing nothing.”

2010-12-19
Newt Gingrich, serious this time, mulls a bid for president
Los Angeles Times
0458-3035
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/dec/19/nation/la-na-gingrich-20101220/2
2011-03-30
on unemployment benefits
2010s

“Alan Colmes: You're calling "appeasers" people who disagree with the Bush policy administration —
Gingrich: Look—
Colmes: — comparing them to those who enabled Hitler?
Gingrich: Yes.
Colmes: That's an astounding comment —
Gingrich: What's your — what's your — why? Why is it astounding?
Colmes: — that's a very insulting comment —
Gingrich: It's not an insulting comment.”

Hannity & Colmes
Fox News
2006-09-01
2006-09-05
Gingrich: "It's not an insult" to compare Bush administration critics "to those who enabled Hitler"
Media Matters for America
http://mediamatters.org/research/200609050002
2011-03-30
2000s

“Remember, there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire. I think that we've had an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs and who were historically part of the Arab community.”

"Palestinians are an invented people, says Newt Gingrich" http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/10/palestinians-invented-people-newt-gingrich
2010s

Newt Gingrich Quotes about thinking

“I don't think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering. I don't think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate. I think we need a national conversation to get to a better Medicare system with more choices for seniors.”

2011-05-15 interview on * Meet the Press
2011-05-15
NBC, quoted in * Gingrich Calls GOP Budget 'Right Wing Social Engineering'
PBS
2011-05-16
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/05/gingrich-keeps-ryan-budget-at-arms-length.html
2011-05-28
2010s

“I'm not a natural leader. I'm too intellectual; I'm too abstract; I think too much.”

1995-10-09
The Politics of Perception
Connie
Bruck
The New Yorker
0028-792X
71
31
51
paragraph 1
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1995/10/09/1995_10_09_050_TNY_CARDS_000374071
1990s

Newt Gingrich Quotes

“So let me say on the record, any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood.”

2010s
Context: I want to make sure every House Republican is protected from some kind of dishonest Democratic ad. So let me say on the record, any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood. Because I have said publicly those words were inaccurate and unfortunate and I'm prepared to stand up and — When I make a mistake — and I'm going to on occasion — I want to share with the American people "that was a mistake" because that way we can have an honest conversation.

“Give the park police more ammo.”

[2011-03-31, Poor and Homeless in the Sunshine State: Down and Out in Theme Park Nation, James D., Wright, Amy M., Donley, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswich, 9781412842211, 2010043864, 290, http://books.google.com/books?id=NiRKy5I5xhEC&pg=PA290]
asked what should be done about homelessness
2010s

“The idea that a congressman would be tainted by accepting money from private industry or private sources is essentially a socialist argument.”

1989
October
The Real Ethics Debate
D. B.
Mother Jones
0362-8841
31
http://books.google.com/books?id=EecDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA30
1980s

“I believe the kids could mop the floor and clean up the bathroom and get paid for it and it would be OK.”

Iowa fundraiser dinner, quoted in * 2011-12-01
Newt Gingrich expands on his support for child labor
Paul
West
Los Angeles Times
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/01/nation/la-na-1202-gingrich-child-labor-20111202
suggesting poor children be given paid jobs in the schools they attend
2010s

“If you import a commercial quantity of illegal drugs, it is because you have made the personal decision that you are prepared to get rich by destroying our children. I have made the decision that I love our children enough that we will kill you if you do this.”

1995-08-27
Gingrich Suggests Tough Drug Measure
New York Times
0362-4331
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/27/us/gingrich-suggests-tough-drug-measure.html
2011-12-12
Former Marijuana User Newt Gingrich Proposed the Death Penalty for Trafficking Marijuana in 1996
Paul
Constant
The Stranger
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/12/12/former-marijuana-user-newt-gingrich-proposed-the-death-penalty-for-trafficking-marijuana-in-1996
regarding his "Drug Importer Death Penalty Act of 1996" (H.R. 4170) bill
1990s

“I'm not studying this, I'm not looking at it in great detail, but the last guy to announce on your show came in fourth.”

Response to Jon Stewart's request that he announce his candidacy for President of the United States in the 2008 election on The Daily Show (6 June 2005)
2000s

“You want to be a country that creates food stamps? In which case, frankly, Obama is an enormous success — the most successful food stamp president in American history. Or do you want to be a country that creates jobs?”

2011-05-13 speech to Georgia Republican convention, quoted in * Meet the Press
NBC
Television
2011-05-15
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/43038280
2011-05-19
2010s

“The left-wing Democrats will represent the party of total hedonism, total exhibitionism, total bizarreness, total weirdness, and the total right to cripple innocent people in the name of letting hooligans loose.”

1989-07-27
John
Harwood
Newt Gingrich: GOP's Bare-Knuckles Battler
St. Petersburg Times
1A, quoted in [2002-03-05, Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-conservative, David, Brock, Crown, 1st, 66-67, 9780812930993]; [2010, Stuck in the Sixties: Conservatives and Legacies of the 1960s, George, Rising, Xlibris, 9781456804848, 2010916124, 130, http://books.google.com/books?id=tnhQ_MJCTtQC&pg=PA130]
1980s

“He’s bright as hell, but I disagree with him.”

Joe Biden; * https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/joe-biden-newt-gingrich-vp-vice-president-225062
Biden to Gingrich: 'Gonna do it?'
Politico
Kristen
East
July 2, 2016.

“By the end of my second term we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American.”

https://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/01/newt-pledges-moon-base-by-second-term-112319
Newt pledges moon base by second term
Alexander
Burns
Politico
January 25, 2012.; * https://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2012/jan/25/newt-gingrich-moon-base
Newt Gingrich promises moon base by the end of his second term
Stuart
Miller
The Guardian
January 25, 2012.
2010s

“I'm willing to lead, but I'm not willing to preside over people who are cannibals.”

https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/08/us/the-speaker-steps-down-excerpts-from-phone-call-about-gingrich-s-future.html
THE SPEAKER STEPS DOWN; Excerpts From Phone Call About Gingrich's Future
The New York Times
Associated Press
November 8, 1998.
1990s

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