During the CNN debate last week, Newt Gingrich delivered one of his now-commonplace media scoldings. You know the ones: The media is evil, I am great, and how dare you in the media be so evil as to not recognize that I am great. And so on.
This particular Newtburst was directed towards CNN's John King, who had the audacity to bring up ABC News' interview with Gingrich ex-wife number two, Marianne Gingrich, which aired the same night. (Imagine that, a debate moderator asking about breaking news relating to one of the candidates. What a monster.)
One of Newt's claims at the time was that he had offered ABC News "character witnesses" in the form of "personal friend[s] I have who knew us in that period" to rebut his ex-wife's claims, but ABC News was just too darn evil to take him up on it. Turns out, not so much:
John King: Tonight, after persistent questioning by our staff, the Gingrich campaign concedes now Speaker Gingrich was wrong both in his debate answer and in our interview yesterday. Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond says the only people the campaign offered to ABC were his two daughters from his first marriage.
What's this? Newt Gingrich was lying about having witnesses that would defend him (other than his daughters, who I pray to God were not at the time in a position to know about Newt's sexual trysts and their parent's conversations about them)? He was completely making stuff up, during a nationally televised debate, in an attempt to attack ABC and CNN as the villains of the story?
Wow. I'm beginning to think this Newt Gingrich guy has some serious ethical issues. I hope a moderator asks him about this during the next debate.