Gingrich may "reevaluate" decision to stay in race
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Just hours before facing returns in Delaware's primary that could knock him out of the GOP presidential race, Newt Gingrich told reporters Tuesday that he finds it "a little insulting" for presumptive nominee Mitt Romney to be kicking off his general election campaign before technically securing the nomination.
Speaking briefly to reporters following a tour through the Billy Graham Library here, Gingrich refused to take questions, assuring them that he "will have something to say this evening once we see some results from today." The former House speaker has indicated recently that a loss in Delaware, the winner-take-all state where he has staked his crumbling campaign on a victory, could inspire him to "reevaluate" his run.
And while speculation mounts that he will suspend his campaign sometime this week, Gingrich warned against treating a Romney nomination as inevitable. The former Massachusetts governor "does not have the majority of delegates," he said, and charged that it's "a little bit presumptuous" for Romney's to hold a general election launch Tuesday night in Manchester, N.H.
"I think it's a very substantial mistake for Governor Romney to be pretending these primaries aren't occurring, and for him to be having 'a general election speech' tonight in New Hampshire," Gingrich said, his wife, Callista, at his side. "He's the frontrunner but he's not the nominee and I think it's a little insulting to the people of these states."
Gingrich will hold an election night rally in Concord, N.C. Romney is expected to sweep all or most of the five states holding primaries on Tuesday: Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Delaware. Gingrich reported last week his campaign is over $4 million in debt.
