Gingrich won't stop hitting Romney

By: Sarah Huisenga
Topics: Campaign 2012

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich

(Credit: Getty Images)

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Brushing aside talk among some Republicans that he should stop harshly attacking Mitt Romney, a defiant Newt Gingrich on Wednesday said he won't do so because "I think that the American people deserve to know things."

"I'm prepared to have people be irritated on the right and the left," Gingrich told reporters following a rally here.

Gingrich, along with several other GOP candidates, has made an issue over front-runner Romney's background as an executive at Bain Capital. A super PAC supporting the former House speaker has developed a video that blasts Romney and Bain for layoffs in South Carolina and other states, a move that some critics have condemned as anti-capitalist.

"I think it's funny that on one hand he wants to run around touting his record; on the other hand, somebody asks a question about his record, he hides behind an entire framework," Gingrich said. "You know, to question the facts is to be anti-capitalist. That is nonsense. Baloney, I think, is the term I was using the other morning. The fact is we have a right to know."

Gingrich - who finished fourth in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary that Romney won with ease - also chafed at the idea that the former Massachusetts governor should be given a break because he's "the establishment candidate."

"I understand why he's throwing up this smokescreen, but if he weren't the establishment candidate, the smokescreen wouldn't last thirty seconds," Gingrich said.

He said of his critics: "Not a single one of them was very worried in Iowa, so I just think when you're t he establishment candidate, everybody gathers around you and says, 'Oh, please. Don't do...' If they think they can get through a general election with Obama and [Obama adviser David] Axelrod and not have to be capable of answering tough questions, that's a formula for guaranteed defeat this fall."

Sarah Huisenga
Sarah Huisenga is covering the Mitt Romney campaign for CBS News and National Journal.
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by chuck_e_g January 13, 2012 3:45 PM EST: So he sticks to his promises ("I will not run a negative campaign") for about as long as his marriages, give or take.; Reply to this comment


by boatdocster January 11, 2012 7:48 PM EST: Two fourth place finishes and Neutered still thinks - "I could have been a contender"...

Keep swinging, Newt! Someday you might actaully make contact with the heavy bag, and you will shed at least 80 pounds in the process. Sylvester Stallone has a role for you in "Rocky XLMICXD".; Reply to this comment


by tenbender January 11, 2012 7:44 PM EST: Mitt brought this on himself. He should of run a positive campaign from the start. Remenber Mitt telling Newt " If you can't stant the heat get out of the kitchen " ? Mitt brought all this on himself. Newt will now bring down the whole party.; Reply to this comment


by Anotheryahoo January 11, 2012 7:33 PM EST: Goldman Sachs backs Obama and Romney so who wins? Goldman Sachs! Forget the crooks & the banksters vote Ron Paul or someone else.; Reply to this comment


by billpl-2009 January 11, 2012 7:27 PM EST: ...sore loser; Reply to this comment


by JJChroniclescom January 11, 2012 7:25 PM EST: Junk Journalist fail to ask Gingrich, Huntsman and Perry how they will shrink government without reducing staff. By embracing the rhetoric of the left, they put themselves on the side of Obama's bloated government. For Gingrich, this issue will be his Wile E. Coyote moment.; Reply to this comment


by actornaught January 11, 2012 6:56 PM EST: People that say capitalism should be unfettered are either sadly naive about the depths of human greed and evil, or they don't mind talking stupid.; Reply to this comment


by Danize January 11, 2012 6:49 PM EST: Anti-capitalist? Well, at one time to attack child labor was to be anti-capitalist. Romney reminds me a bit of the lead character in Pretty Woman. He too fed on troubled companies like a vulture. He destroyed more than he created. So he says to Vivian, (Julia Roberts) "We are the same, Vivian. We both s***w people for a living."; Reply to this comment


by Joeydeluxed January 11, 2012 6:47 PM EST: They're both worthless, and unfortunately the rest of the candidates aren't much better. Its a damn shame that we can't find better candidates than these.; Reply to this comment


by solllutions January 11, 2012 6:44 PM EST: this is GREAT NOW IF ONLY RON PAUL WOULD RUN IN THE lIBITARIAN TICKET, THIS WOULD CINCH THE FOUR (4) MORE YEARS FOR OBAMA. this is GREAT; Reply to this comment