by Newt Gingrich just might want to be careful about what he says – or at least about how he says it. Putting his foot in his mouth and appearing a bit racist recently, Gingrich called Obama a “food stamp president.”
Yesterday, in Plymouth, N.H., he said,
“And so I’m prepared if the NAACP invites me, I’ll go to their convention and talk about why the African American community should demand paychecks, not be satisfied with food stamps.”
He then went on to explain that, “Obama is the best food stamp president in American history. More people are on food stamps today because of Obama’s policies than ever in history.”
In contrast, he said that he is looking forward to being the “best paycheck president in American history.”
Trying to deal with the criticism they have received as a results of his comments, Gingrich’s campaign has explained that his NAACP comments are an attempt to reach out to the African American community. He wanted, he explains, to reach out to any ethnic group that will listen. Defending himself, he said that it is a “clear signal to the African American community that Republicans did not see them as worthy of engagement in dialogue.”
Explaining his use of the food stamps and paychecks idea, he said,
“There’s no neighborhood I know of in America where if you went around and asked people, ‘Would you rather your children had food stamps or paychecks? You would end up with a majority saying they’d rather have a paycheck.”
