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Subscribe to RSSWhile speaking to a group of mom's in Des Moines, Iowa, Newt Gingrich gets choked up while talking about his own mom.
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Newt Gingrich teared up during a campaign stop on Friday, speaking about his late mother in front of a group of mothers in Des Moines.
Gingrich displayed emotion in response to a question from GOP pollster Frank Luntz, who asked the former House speaker to recall special memories of his own mom.
"First of all, you'll get me all teary eyed," Gingrich warned at the outset of his response.
"My mother sang in the choir and loved singing in the choir. I don't know if I should admit this, when I was very young. She made me sing in the choir," he said, wiping away a tear. "But I identify my mother with being happy, loving life, having a sense of joy in her friends, but what she introduced me to is late in her life she ended up in a long term care facility, she had bipolar disease and depression, and she gradually acquired some physical elements."
The emotional display comes at a particularly fragile moment for Gingrich's campaign. In just about a month, he's slid from frontrunner status in Iowa's caucuses to flfth place, according to today's NBC News-Marist poll. Over that time, Gingrich has been besieged by negative ads by super PACs and rival campaigns; he's vowed to stay positive and has responded by challenging competitors to take down their ads. He hasn't had much pushback on air in part because of his campaign's low cashflow.
Those attacks may have worn on Gingrich, whose outburst Friday is almost reminiscent of 2008, when Hillary Clinton broke into tears at a campaign stop in New Hampshire when reflecting on the difficulties of the campaign trail. That moment was interpreted to have helped Clinton politically.
Pausing again, Gingrich said that if he could talk to his mom now he would say "I will do everything I can as a candidate to be worthy" of her, and her generation's sacrifice.
At another point during his answer, Gingrich quipped: "I do policy a lot better than I do personal."
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Newt cried over his Mom , hey, thats his Mom ,,, Boehner cried talking about his past , that was kind of whimpy , But ,,, When Obama loses ,,, That will be some crying , some loud , scarey sounding crying !!
But ,,, When Obama loses ,
That's NOT going to happen.
Charlie I hope he loses I cry ever time I see his ugly mug on TV Which is two or three times a day.
Obama is a FINE looking man...but hey I am a woman...we get sick to our stomachs when old geezers said palin and bachman were hot......yeah real hot for grannys....if you republicans are just going to run someone on looks...there are much finer looking women than those 2...you need to get out more
Where were those tears when he gave the divorce papers to his wife who had cancer.
Devonshayde:: Or kicked his second wife to the curb because she became ill. Newt's problem is he loves to scratch itches.
My reaction to this touching story:
Hmmm. His mom died when she was 77. He's 68 now. Maybe we'll only have to put up with him for another 9 years.
This man has no right to cry over family, period. If his children from his first marriage were fondly remembering their mother, they'd cry over how she died alone.
Well said. Using your mother's death as a tool of political manipulation has got to be the tackiest thing I ever heard of. The rest of us don't cry about our dead relatives at work.
"Shortly after that infamous encounter, Gingrich refused to pay his alimony and child-support payments. The First Baptist Church in his hometown had to take up a collection to support the family Gingrich had deserted. Six months after divorcing Jackie, Gingrich married a younger woman, Marianne, with whom he had been having an affair."
So Newt -- you loved your mother!! Big deal -- who doesn't. But that doesn't take away from the fact that you the most dishonest scum-bag to ever run for president. You're NOT going to the White House Newt -- at best you're gong back to Fox news where you can continue to spread your fear, hate and lies.
my eyes are welling up with tears now......wouldnt it be great newt and boner crying together as they see that they lost the election and the control of congress
I meant the house of reps
Crying? could be worse, other presidential candidates have lied about their mothers.
wow...was it regun...he is the only one I can think of who would want to lie about his background...Obamas mother was a fine looking midwestener....and we know bushes and clintons mom...so yeah must be regun
jennifer - It was Mr Obama.
So strange... I wonder if he watches Hardball? Correct me if I'm wrong but just 2 days ago didn't they discuss on Hardball that he needed a Hilary moment... you know... the tears and emotion. Then today... SURPRISE... we got our Hilary moment. Popcorn anyone.
Right on cue!
I didn't know turds had mothers!!??
Hahahahaha
OK, When is the last time we saw a political candidate ask'd about his mother???
Newt's workin' it hard to get back in the runnin'
Turning on the water works
Newt knows he's done. Really. Those were tears of hopelessness. They were tears of letting out the frustration and finally giving into defeat. Let's hope he can do it magnanimously and with class when he tosses in the towel.
Nobody leaves this world without paying their dues and Newt hurt, decieved and destroyed many lives along the way
So go on, have yourself a good Cry Newt........this is only the beginning
Newt is OUTTA money and TIME! His "be nice" mantra hasn't been working, so NOW he is trying to act like he has FEELINGS!
LOL!
GOOD LUCK NEWTY!!!
OBAMA/BIDEN 2012
I didn't know he had a Mother.
Louis:: Pregnant women do strange things. His mother gorged on Fig Newtons, so she named him Newton (didn't want to name him Fig).
She should have named him "Pig Newton"
They wanted to but that was his third wifes name.
That would apply to a lot of us.
OK sympathy voters, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most convincing, how was his acting?
...while i do believe newt had a mother, i distrust his tears. give the man an oscar, but don't make him president!
We already had one lousy actor who was a worse president. Hopefully we've learned a lesson.
Newt doesn't have empathy for anybody that I can think of. He wants to put the poorest of our nations children to work as janitors and put the janitors out of work. He has cheated on how many wives? I just don't buy it. It just seems like a last ditch desperate act to seem vulnerable in some way to hopefully climb out from 5th place before he drops to Bachman level.
I would bet that Newtie's mother was in a long-term care facility that was paid by Medicaid. Someone needs to ask him who paid for his mother's care. That sleeze bag will ask the government to pay for his poor momma, but Newtie will be the first in line to do away with Medicaid for the rest of our dear mothers. Jerk.
I watched this putz make an attempt at his own little "Hillary Clinton Moment".......it came off insincere, theatrical and as with most things this man does, he does it for a calculated result....this won't pay him any dividends aside from adding, "Inferior acting talent" to his list of known liabilities
Your are wrong - dog $hit! Newt is the real deal and he will wipe Obummer's a$$ in a debate. But Obummer would have to give up his teleprompter & that will never happen - LMAO. Obummer can't function with out the frickin teleprompter - hahahahahaha - What a LAME BRAIN! I COULD OUT DEBATE HIM!!!!
And I wonder what he would say to his mother if she had these problems and she and/or the family could not afford a decent long-term facility for her. AND there were no social programs to help. ......... Then what would he say? This is the position he and the whole Republican Party seems to want for middle class and poor families.
Trying to pretend he has some human feelings. OK, speaking in front of mothers about his mother after he slips in the polls. Did anyone see him pull a nose hair before he teared up?
the crying does not make it ingenuine..its the making a big deal about it that makes it fake...everyone sheds a tear now and then....but he needs to save it for when he meets his maker
What is great about Newt Gringrich's campaign is that shortly after the Iowa Caucus vote, we will be rid of this cocky condescending A-S-S-H-O-L-E for the rest of our lives. His political career will be over for good and we won't have to listen to him anymore. (His $500,000 line of Credit at Tiffany's might be over too)
All in all....2011 not a bad year. Morons like Sarah Palin, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, and very soon Michelle Bachman.
All Bye-Bye and out of our faces !!!
Hey G Brow - Maybe we will be rid of MORONS like YOU!
Too bad ignorant a$$holes like you get to vote. Are you legal?? So many of the MSNBC followers aren't.
Well, it's over for Gingrich. Boo-hooing on camera is always a dead giveaway the end is near. It's funny how maudlin these hard core, right wing, guys get (guys who themselves always relished watching the other guy suffer and never ever gave an enemy a break) wax so teary-eyed and poetic when talking about their mommas.