Newt Gingrich Campaign Awkwardly Attempts To Clarify Remark Made To Gay Iowan Telling Him To Vote For Obama

An update on a previous post, Newt Gingrich’s comment to a gay Iowan this week to support President Barack Obama referred only to the man who was questioning Gingrich and to others who view same sex marriage as a central issue, his campaign said in a statement Wednesday. That is how The Des Moines Register, which first reported on the incident Tuesday night, had described the exchange. “As you can see from the transcript and video, Gingrich was saying that he plans to talk to all Americans about jobs, national security, creating a better future for America and many issues,” spokesman R.C. Hammond said. “He did say that for voters whose most important issue was allowing gays the right to marry, that it was legitimate for them to support Obama for president.” The original Register post on the situation Tuesday night has since gone viral on the Internet, leading some to interpret the statement to mean that Gingrich was encouraging all gay Americans to vote for Obama. The Log Cabin Republicans – gay rights supporters in the party – issued a statement today critical of media coverage of the event. “In this political climate, the door is wide open for a strong Republican candidate to win the support of conservatives, independents and disillusioned Democrats – and there are those who are working hard to paint any and all Republicans as bigoted in a fear-mongering effort to shore up the president’s base. That is unfair and highly unfortunate for our community,” said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director. On Tuesday night at a campaign event in Oskaloosa, Scott Arnold, an adjunct professor of writing at William Penn University, had approached Gingrich to ask him about how he plans to engage gay Americans given his stance on same-sex marriage. “I asked him if he’s elected, how does he plan to engage gay Americans. How are we to support him? And he told me to support Obama.” Gingrich told Arnold that he doesn’t expect to get the support of voters who disagree with him on the definition of marriage and who consider that a central issue. The transcript is at the source, the video from CBS News below.