Gingrich blasts Romney for unfairness to poor

By: Sarah Huisenga
Topics: Campaign 2012

(Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS - Newt Gingrich on Friday hit Mitt Romney for being unfair to the poor while at the same time contending that a Romney administration would support food stamps as much as President Obama - calling the president "big food stamp" and Romney "little food stamp."

Calling Romney's comment that he didn't "really care about the poor" a "boo-boo," Gingrich told a crowd gathered at Smokey's Rockin' Country bar that the comments made by the former Massachusetts governor would come back to hurt him in a general election. Romney acknowledged that he misspoke when he said, "I'm not concerned about the very poor; we have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it."

"The elite media did exactly what Obama will do this fall," Gingrich said. "[Keep] replaying `I don't care about the poor,' which, by the way, is not a very clever thing for somebody who is very wealthy to say."

But only moments earlier, the former speaker was calling Romney "Obama lite," and comparing Romney's position on food stamps - a government safety net for the poor - to that of the president's.

"We now know from Governor Romney, he joins Obama, Obama is big food stamp, he's little food stamp," Gingrich said. "And they both think food stamps are okay. I don't think food stamps are a future for America, they're a necessary bridge, back to getting a job and back to being independent of the government."

Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams fired back in response that Gingrich's attacks "are the sign of a candidate trying to distract from his own record to save his sinking campaign. Newt Gingrich would rather make misleading statements about Mitt Romney's record than tell Nevada voters suffering from the housing crisis why he took $1.6 million from Freddie Mac or why he filmed a climate-change ad with Nancy Pelosi that was funded by George Soros."

In a subsequent appearance on CNN, Gingrich said it was "irrelevant" whether Obama deserved any credit for Friday's news that unemployment fell to 8.3 percent. "If it makes you happy, give him some credit," he told host Wolf Blitzer.

"The fact is," he added, "his policies in general have driven up the national debt massively, they have weakened the United States economically, they have increased the price of gas so that it's double what it was when he came in, even at 8.3 percent, the economy is dramatically weaker than under Ronald Reagan at this exact same point. And he won't be able to go to the public and say, 'Look how successful I've been.' The most he'll be able to say is, `I'm less destructive than I was a year ago."

Sarah Huisenga
Sarah Huisenga is covering the Mitt Romney campaign for CBS News and National Journal.
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by bsvitamins1 February 4, 2012 9:39 PM EST: People seem to forget that it took 8 or more years of bad policies to put us where we are at . You can't expect it to be fixed in just four years in office. I see things turning around now so why change in mid stream lets keep thing going instead of letting the Republicans back in office lets keep them out of both house and senate and give the us a chance to fix the two BUSH's mess.; Reply to this comment


by stupa5 February 4, 2012 11:54 AM EST: Gingrich just curious are you in favor for credit accouts for the poor at "Tiffany's"?; Reply to this comment


by RobAla February 4, 2012 9:40 AM EST: I'm tired of the food fight between Rommey and Gingrich, and I would like to see them both concentrate on presenting their plans for the United States. Romney has a 59 point plan, and I want to hear more about it. Gingrich has plans for a 15% flat tax and to link education with unemployment payments - and I would like to hear more about his plans. These two need to stop the pie throwing fights and focus on telling Americans about their plans.

As for the unemployment figures, the US economy is struggling for life in spite of President Obama. His policies has been a disaster. We will all know when the economy turns around when closed businesses reopen and when millions of Americans who have been unable to pay their house payments are back on their feet.

CBS 02/03/12: Stephanie Condon: "In spite of the ongoing recovery, conservatives enjoy pointing out that the Reagan recovery was more robust -- James Pethokoukis of the American Enterprise Institute points out that the economy grew 7.2 percent in the second full year of the Reagan recovery, while growth hit 1.7 percent in 2011, the second full year of recovery in the Obama administration."

The point being that President Obama had a working model of how to come out of a recession in what President Reagan did, and he ignored it. President Obama decided to experiment on his own, and it has resulted in extending the economic downturn and extending the recession. We are crawling out of this recession at a snails pace, and it is in spite of President Obama's failed policies. I want a new President.; Reply to this comment


by erick_z February 4, 2012 2:53 AM EST: Please tell Santorum to do the right thing and GET OUT OF THE WAY! He has lost!
If Romney wins the nomination we can be sure to blame Santorum the spoiler! I would not be surprised if the Republicrat establishment is paying him to stay in and stop Newt. People are beginning to dislike Santorum as much as Obama.. If he hopes to run again in the future he should get out NOW!; Reply to this comment


by erick_z February 4, 2012 2:33 AM EST: In regards to the helping the poor and the economy Gingrich wins every time! There would not have been any federal balanced budgets and government surpluses without Gingrich. Also.. At that time there were millions of job created which employed many people that were previously poor.; Reply to this comment


by nearl451 February 3, 2012 9:50 PM EST: So....Gingrich favors straight up money instead of food stamps then....that way it can be spent in strip clubs and on drugs and booze?

Didn't I just see a bill about this yesterday?; Reply to this comment

by boatdocster February 3, 2012 9:45 PM EST

Amount of money given to charity last year by:

Romney - apx 12% of 30 million or about 3,500,000
Gingrich - apx 3% of 3 million or about 90,000

Neutered - who is really being unfair to the poor?

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