Newt Gingrich Battles The View on Trump’s ‘Lynching’ Tweet – Mediaite

A day after saying the White House press corps ought to be eliminated, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich co-hosted The View, where he and his fellow panelists collided over President Donald Trumps lynching tweet.

Gingrich is currently making the rounds to promote his new book, Trump vs. China: Facing Americas Greatest Threat, and after telling CBS there wouldnt be a White House press corps in the White House if he had his way, he took his media tour to ABC. Sure enough, things started off with a bang when Whoopi Goldberg asked Gingrich to respond to how Trump is likening impeachment a Constitutional process to lynching.

Its a word that nobody, you know, wants to hear, Goldberg said. This was not a good choice of words for him, do you think?

Gingrich defended Trump by comparing him to Clarance Thomas, who claimed he experienced a lynching when he was investigated during his Supreme Court confirmation process. The former speaker continued to excuse Trump by saying hes deeply frustrated by how he has been beaten up and investigated since the start of his presidency.

But doesnt he bring a lot of that on himself? Abby Huntsman asked, to which, Gingrich shrugged and said sure.

Listen, Newt, Golberg interjected as she jumped back in the conversation. When a giant six-foot white guy says Im being lynched here, you understand why its a little bit like, listen man, youre not being lynched here, you are being held to the standard were supposed to be holding every president to.

Gingrich continued to be pressed on the subject, with Sunny Hostin noting that his Trump-Thomas comparison is faulty since Thomas is black.

Im going to be very politically incorrect, Gingrich eventually said, pivoting. Most of the early American movies on lynching were about lynching white people.

Gingrich eventually acknowledged Goldbergs point that it wasnt appropriate for Trump to use the term, and he often uses words more clumsily than he should.

Ive been comfortable just calling it a witch hunt and a Kangaroo court and things like that, he said. I havent gone up to that next level.

Watch above, via ABC.

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Newt Gingrich Battles The View on Trump's 'Lynching' Tweet - Mediaite