Jan 13, 2012 8:56am
Newt Gingrich Hits Mitt Romney’s ‘French Connection’
EmailNewt Gingrich is out with a new ad comparing Mitt Romney with John Kerry for, among other things, speaking French. The ad features clips of Kerry and Romney speaking French.
At least it’s not Mandarin.
The ad takes aim at Romney’s record in Massachusetts and also features a clip of Michael Dukakis in the tank.
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Newt has passed pathetic. Have both of you who planned to vote for him figured it out yet?
Posted by: ray | January 13, 2012, 9:12 am 9:12 am
So Newt complains about someone speaking another language, well so do a lot of Americans, is Newt one of the few who only speaks English
Posted by: Lizzie | January 13, 2012, 9:42 am 9:42 am
Shut up NEWT !!! NEwt is the biggest blowhard and nasty unethical going !
Romney served over in France as a missionary years ago. Knowing a little French I am sure was necessary !!! GROW UP NEWTIE BOY !
Posted by: redsoxnation | January 13, 2012, 9:44 am 9:44 am
Newt is a bitter, bitter old man who seems to have a personal score to settle with Mitt. Pathetic barely scratches the surface of his behavior. And there are actually people in this country who think he’s presidential material? Amazing.
Posted by: A Cynic | January 13, 2012, 10:07 am 10:07 am
I can’t understand WHY Republicans THINK being UNEDUCATED is a good thing and rail against people that have a wide variety of knowledge. IDIOTS, it’s a GOOD thing to be able to speak more than just ENGLISH! I guess for SOME Republicans these jerks win points by demanding STUPIDITY from their people! Yeah Newt, you’ve just scored a few more points. NOT!
Posted by: demNme5 | January 13, 2012, 10:40 am 10:40 am
This guy has lost his mind. To attack the Mittens because he speaks french? LOL!!! Mittens just GAINED 5 points in my book because I believe all Americans should be speaking two or three languages fluently. I agree with you DEMNME5!!! Why do Republicans rail against education and educated people?
Posted by: MyTakeOnThis61 | January 13, 2012, 11:16 am 11:16 am
The ability to speak a second language, is NOT a negative factor in electability.
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | January 13, 2012, 11:34 am 11:34 am
What a joke the Gingrich campaign is. I can’t imagine that they’re aiming to be taken seriously anymore. It’s almost like they’ve become so scorned by the fact that Newt can never win the party’s nomination, that, out of spite, they’re trying to humiliate the republican party. That has to be it! No one could be dumb enough to think “Mitt Romney speaks French!” is a valid argument against anything, let alone a presidential campaign.
This is like something out of a bad 80′s comedy.
Posted by: manolo | January 13, 2012, 12:13 pm 12:13 pm
“The ability to speak a second language, is NOT a negative factor in electability.”
It SHOULD NOT be, in a civilized and intelligent country. In OUR country, some people actually look on it as a negative. Hence the advert. Pandering to the stupidest, most narrow minded amongst us is par for the course in politics.
Posted by: A Cynic | January 13, 2012, 12:15 pm 12:15 pm
Uhhh. NEwt has a Ph.D. in Modern European History from Tulane. Pretty sure you need a foreign language for that, and I hope given the subject that one of those was French
Posted by: Jonathan Riddle | January 13, 2012, 12:35 pm 12:35 pm
Hmm. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, among other founding fathers, spoke French, too. Newt’s a historian. He should know that. And when I earned MY PhD in a historical field, I needed several foreign languages to research my doctoral dissertation. I had to prove competence in at least two of them by taking exams in them. Newt didn’t? Wow. I would have thought a dissertation on Belgian educational policy in the Congo would REQUIRE French.
Posted by: Eleonora27 | January 13, 2012, 3:42 pm 3:42 pm
As a French, I was reading a similar article in my language, where they pointed out that Newt was not exactly open about his situation vis-a-vis France: he lived years there when his father was based in a US military base. Who knows? His French might be very good as well, just won’t admit it…
Posted by: Martin | January 14, 2012, 12:38 am 12:38 am
So in Newt’s conservative America, you lose points for speaking French? Republicans now clearly disdain intellectualism, embrace fundamentalist religion and prejudice, reject diplomacy, and have abandoned the notion of a balanced social contract. No wonder. They’re lost. They can’t guide America unless they understand where our values are rooted – in the French & British liberal tradition. That’s the basis of American democracy. Reject that, and America will be rudderless, just like the GOP.
Posted by: Jebuff | January 14, 2012, 4:47 am 4:47 am