Newt takes media to task

By Chrissy the Hyphenated

Nov 7, 2011: Newt Gingrich appeared on NBC Today, but all co-host Ann Curry wanted to talk about was the allegations against Herman Cain.

Happily, Newt used the opportunity wisely. Here are the juicy bits –

CURRY: Good to be with you as well, sir. Can Herman Cain not answer these lingering questions about sexual harassment allegations and still win the Republican nomination, in your view?

GINGRICH: Well, that will be up to the American people. If they conclude that anonymous allegations from people who don’t want to be identified, involving purely civil activities, that the American people could well decide that they want a solution-oriented leader more than they want a scandal. …

CURRY: … If you are right, that it is possible that the American public could actually decide to overlook these allegations, what would it mean for the party to have a Republican nominee for president, with unanswered questions about sexual harassment, what would it do to your party’s chances of defeating Barack Obama?

GINGRICH: What does it mean to the elite news media that nobody in the country ever walks up to us and raises questions you all raise? … I just think there’s a huge gap between the gossip that fascinates political reporters and the average person’s concern about the price of housing, the availability of jobs, solving the budget deficit without crushing the middle class. A lot of things that, frankly, at a substance level are dramatically more important to most Americans. …

CURRY: … are you saying that questions about the character of a presidential candidate don’t matter?

GINGRICH: No. Questions matter a lot. I’m saying that when the news media goes and finds an anonymous report about an anonymous incident, about which you have remarkably limited information, and you decide that matters more than every other issue in the campaign, that may put your judgment in doubt.

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Read the whole transcript to see how Curry introduces Gingrich as a candidate and author, then refuses to talk about anything but the Cain allegations. http://www.mrc.org/biasalert/2011/20111107104158.aspx