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Richard Shiro / AP
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich speaks at Tommy's Ham House in Greenville , S.C., on Wednesday.
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Newt Gingrich pushed back on a New York Times article published Wednesday that explored how he avoided the legal definition of “lobbyist” while still providing many of the services that registered lobbyists do.
In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, taped Wednesday morning, Gingrich said that talking up issues important to his clients with former colleagues represented nothing more than his sharing personal opinions as a private citizen.
“If Newt Gingrich believes that and happens to also be working with companies who care about that, and I walk in to see friends of mine and talk about the issue, they’re responding to what Newt Gingrich believes,” he said.
He also addressed a specific instance in 2005, mentioned in the Times article, in which he held a press conference with Rep. Patrick Kennedy and Sen. Hillary Clinton to push for passage of a bill to increase the use of electronic health records.
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is attracting large crowds in South Carolina. He has traveled across the state appearing at a number of town-hall style meetings. NBC's Ali Weinberg reports.
While Gingrich said in 2005 after the press briefing, “We’re launching a bill,” he said on Wednesday that he was not advocating for specific legislation but simply using the shock value of appearing with two New York Democrats to bring attention to a shared priority.
“We sent a signal we ought to have health information technology you could never have done if you were alone,” he said. “And so they want to say, well, isn’t that lobbying? No. That’s called being a citizen. As a citizen, I’m allowed to have an opinion. As a relatively famous citizen, I can broadcast my opinion in lots of places.”
In part of the interview that was cut from the broadcast version, Gingrich also stood by his comments about not having to lobby because he was already wealthy, although he said the statement “may have sounded a little bit too self-serving.”
“I made pretty good money out of speeches. I didn’t have to lobby. I had 13 New York Times bestsellers out of my 24 books, I was doing speeches, I had lots of things going on,” he said.
NBC watched part of the hour-long interview as it was taped at Tommy's Ham House in Greenville just after Gingrich gave a town hall there.
GOP hopefuls Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have begun to engage each other with gentle jabs, suggesting they now see the nomination as a two-man race. Meanwhile, Herman Cain tried to rally enough support to stay in the race. NBC's Lisa Myers has more.
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Scat, Poop, Dung ... call it what you will, a pile of sh-t is still a pile of sh-t.
Steaming, is what I call it.
Right Newt, what is is?
No, Mr. Gingrich - you are a vile, contemptable, heartless, arrogant, flip-flopping fraud. What anyone sees in you of value is way beyond my comprehension. Your ethics are corrupt, as evidenced by your life-long portrayal of your "I Love Me" persona.
Much is apparent about our country's unwillingness/inability to recognize how despicable Mr. Gingrich truly is. Apparently, legitimate values are meaningless in today's voters' hearts and minds. Pity!
Newt isn’t a lobbyist?? But Newt you are in fact the biggest pile of garbage, lies, filth, sewage, hypocrisy, excrement, dishonesty, dirt, muck, smut, trash, immorality, debris, manure, pretense, corruption, debauchery and all around depravity to ever seek the office of president.
what an ugly turd...thank god women can vote...cuz there is NO WAY this unattractive welfare living (he lives on our tax dollars)...will get voted in!!! remember how all you rednecks tried to push old granny panties palin down our throats (shes" dumb but cute "you geezers thought) well turnabouts fair play and there is NO WAY this unattractive, unamerican, ho dating pasty snitchin dork is going to be prez!!!!
and really who ever listens to rush,hannity,beck and that militant lesbo lara ingram...needs to go outside and realize the sky isnt falling!!! they are the most vile hucksters that just use scare tactics so old geezers and mental midgets will think the world will end if they dont buy gold!!!
Give me a break Newt is a lobbyist,citizen and grifter not to mention liar ,thief, adulterer the one thing he is not is the next President of the United States.
Really Newt! Just a citizen! I am a citizen. So how do I get to sell access to Washington and make millions doing it. Isn't that the DEFINITION of a lobbyist. Were you also working on K Street?
what he say ? not a lobbyist ? braw hawh hawh, ha hah ha whaaaa lol lmfao this guy is pur 100% political thearer , he'll get the vote of all the reality TV watchers wtf. lol
We all know that when a public servant leaves government services they do not go and work with large companies, etc. and earn lots of money for their connections. And, I have an opinion or two, would one of these groups please pay be a couple of million to express them so I can be a good citizen too.
One thing f'sure...Newtie Tootie is a political comedian. A very un-funny comedian. And like Cain the Stain, he's got his crowd of pathetic loons...er...supporters, somehow.
BTW: Obama/Biden win in 2012! No doubt!
Even Newt knows he will never be president. He remembers his past even if the Republicans have apparently forgotten. What a sad state our country is in that we would even consider Newt qualified, how ridiculous are we? This is embarassing!!
Grinchrich is not a real historian either he just plays one when he's on TV.
And I'm Santa Claus....No Newter, you're a lying POS!
You also represent the absolutely worse aspect of what politics have become in this country and why our two party system no longer works.
Hopefully one day liberals wake up and see that they are being used by the mainstream media to set its socialist-elitist agenda. If MSNBC actually was a "news" organization there would be balanced coverage of both parties. It is funny that so many people stick their head in the sand and ignore what the current President is doing to destroy this country. We would be lucky to have a Newt, Ron Paul or even Palin instead of the current bozo.
We'd be lucky to have morons from a party that denies global warming and think this recession was caused by too much government regulation?
What country do you live in?
You almost had me convinced, until you brought up Palin.
Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, OK enough laughing, everyone back to work. We needed a good laugh to start the day!
If you believe that Newt wasn't a lobbyist, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you or at least on I want to consult with various politicians on how to best serve this bridge legislatively.
Newt Gingrich: "I'm not a lobbylist, just a lizard."
I've been in the beef business for more than 45 years. Newt claiming he not a lobbyist is about like me claiming to be a vegetarian.
I'm not a lobbyist, just a citizen on the take. Lots of famous citizens are on the take.
Just a citizen? Give me a break. Gingrich is the consumate Washington insider & as long as we keep voting for Washington insiders, we are going get the same thing we've got now: crooks & incompetents running the government. Face it folks; we are going DOWN & we are going down because we didn't have enough darn sense to see through the lies & propaganda that BOTH parties have spun over the years.
Stunningly full of BULLSH*&!!!
" Greasy Palm " Gingrich is just another dumb Republican puppet bribed and bankrolled by crooked corporations and the polluting gas, mining and oil industry. A disgrace to America.
Newt is the person to bring ethics and morality to government ha,ha. Serial adultery, fined by Congress for ethics violations, serial flip flopper, hypocrit par excellance. His wife had an affair with a married man-the Newt.What role models!