Gingrich Is Asked To Back Up Remarks House Democrat Calls Speaker’s Comments About Editorial Writers ‘Fantasy’
Brandishing a copy of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on the House floor, Rep. Martin Frost challenged Speaker Newt Gingrich on Thursday to back up his assertion that many newspaper editorials are written by socialists.
“I call on the speaker to name names,” Frost said.
“Who are the socialists on the editorial board of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram? Who are the socialists on the editorial board of the Houston Post? Who are the socialists on the editorial board of the San Antonio Express News?”
Frost, who asked the same question about several other papers, said in a later interview that he wanted to draw attention to what he considers a pattern of misstatements by Gingrich.
“When the speaker engages in fantasy, I think he should be called on it,” the Dallas Democrat said.
“I don’t think he should be able to be a loose cannon. When he makes a statement, people are listening. There are probably people all over the country who think the newspaper business is infested with socialists. This is fantasy on Newt’s part.”
Gingrich made the comment Monday night at a private dinner with about 200 business executives.
He also advised the corporate leaders to consider pulling advertisements from papers that publish editorials that they consider objectionable.
The speaker’s remarks were later leaked to The Washington Post.
Gingrich defended his assertion in a Wednesday interview on Fox Morning News but declined to name any editorial writers that he considers socialist.
“I’m not going to get into specific names, but I’ll be glad to get you a collection of editorials that only make sense if people believe that government is good and the free market is bad,” he said.
Gingrich also said that “a substantial number” of newspaper editorial boards “start from an extraordinarily pro-government, anti-free market bias.”
The speaker, who was not in the chamber when Frost made his remarks, did not hold is regular daily news conference Thursday and could not be reached for comment.