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ARLINGTON, VA -- Newt Gingrich finally ended his presidential bid on Wednesday at a hotel just outside of the nation's capital, where he once led the Republican Party in Congress.
Newt Gingrich end his run for president on after winning only two of the dozens of nominating contests in the Republican primary race. Watch his entire speech.
After a week of broadcasting his intent to suspend his campaign -- including the release of a video earlier this week thanking supporters and previewing the announcement -- Gingrich formally ended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination at an event his campaign had billed as a "press conference to announce suspension of campaign."
Benjamin Myers / Reuters
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich speaks next to his wife Callista Gingrich as he suspends his presidential campaign May 2 in Arlington, Va.
"Today, I'm suspending the campaign but suspending the campaign does not mean suspending citizenship. Callista and I are committed to be active citizens. We owe it to America. We owe it to Maggie and Robert," Gingrich said, referring to his only two grandchildren, here in his home state of Virginia.
Once bitter rival of Mitt Romney, the presumptive GOP nominee, Gingrich vowed during his 26 minute speech to do whatever possible to beat Barack Obama but came short of actually endorsing Romney.
"I'm asked sometimes is Mitt Romney conservative enough. And my answer is simple: compared to Barack Obama? You know, this is not a choice between Mitt Romney and Ronald Reagan. This is a choice between Mitt Romney and the most radical leftist President in American history," Gingrich said while addressing roughly 100 members of the media inside the Hilton Hotel.
Romney said in a statement: "Newt Gingrich has brought creativity and intellectual vitality to American political life. During the course of this campaign, Newt demonstrated both eloquence and fearlessness in advancing conservative ideas. Although he long ago created an enduring place for himself in American history, I am confident that he will continue to make important contributions to our party and to the life of the nation."
Gingrich’s spokesman said an official endorsement of Romney is still to come.
The news was far from surprising, given the way the former House speaker had been openly discussing the prospect of his exiting from the race ever since he finished poorly in the Delaware primary.
After finishing nearly 30 percent behind Mitt Romney in DE -- a state Gingrich frequented leading up to the election -- the speaker basically gave two concession speeches while campaigning in North Carolina last week. He began calling Romney the "nominee" and said it was time to "be honest about what's happening in the real world as opposed to what you would like to have happen."
Gingrich's campaign had been considered virtually dead for weeks, though the winner of the South Carolina and Georgia primaries vowed to contest the nomination all the way through the Republican convention this summer in Tampa. Gingrich had assailed Romney's conservatism, and, to boot, President Obama's campaign circulated a video this morning featuring the ex-speaker's greatest hits against Romney.
That said, the month of May is far later in the election cycle than most political observers thought Gingrich would last. After suffering missteps in the launch of his campaign, most of Gingrich's senior staff quit on him last June.
Gingrich must also still work to erase millions of debts incurred during his campaign, mostly during its tail end.
But at today’s event, the Speaker seemed cheerful and unfazed by the $4 million hole he is in. He rather spent time talking about one of his most memorable ideas from the past 10 months – his proposed moon colony.
“My wife has pointed out to me approximately 219 times, give or take three, that the moon colony was probably not my most clever comment in this campaign. I thought, frankly, in my role providing material for Saturday night live it was helpful but the underlying key point is real,” Gingrich joked.
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Which follows suspension of his exercise program 45 years ago.
Now that is just plain hysterical!!! Thanks for the chuckle!!!
FINALLY......The Grinch throws in thew towel!!!
Just think, had he done this 4-5 months ago (as he should have) he'd be a COOL MILLION RICHER!!!
"Now that Governor Romney has agreed to help retire my campaign debts, I am going to say nice things about him. Maybe I can finally get away from Callista for an hour or two."
Gingrich's judicial reform platform has been joined by FederalEthicsCenter.com Wonder if Romney will adopt it.
Now is this the black one who sang and had affairs,the silly cowboy who forgot everything,the odd,angry woman who didn't know what or where anything was,the hilarious hobbit one who loved jewlry and wanted to go to the moon, the one whose name everyone googled to see the hilarious reaponse, or the filthy rich, oddball in mom jeans? You Republicans have done it this time....
Was he running?
Newt, thanks for all the ammo for commercials against Mittens :)
There is no fool like an old fool. The Gingrich brand of politics is why we are in the mess we are in today... Term limits for all politicians of no more than two terms. Politics should not be a legal career.
Mike is mad that Mitt has no chance to beat our current POTUS. Mr. Flip Flopper will
have to face Obama at some point and chose which view does he really have. Mr.
Seriously conservative or former Gov. the moderate who agreed that the O'Romney
care was the blue print for the current which he now is against? Mike may have a
short memory but those of us that have a brain free from drugs don't.
Goodbye Ginnie ...... no more long goodbyes
I heard last week that it cost the taxpayers $36,000 per day for his Secret Service detail. So we spent, what, an extra quarter of a million dollars because he wanted to string out his announcement. Our tax dollars at work!
Let me guess - Newt writes another book about his run for the White House and how he learned so much about America... How about spending some quality time with a stairmaster instead!!
Ahh, another one is bought out! What I want to know is who is going to buy out the last one standing so we can get rid of all the candidates! None of them are worth the $hit they are made out of!
Who's going to "buy" out Romney? Oh I know - the Bush's!!
Sorry for my candidate Newt, now get off your duff and clean the floor with Obama in the press. Debate him by proxy.
For a supposedly smart guy he sure took a long time to learn what most citizens have known for months. I understand the logic that the strongest steel is forged in the hottest heat, but he has been trying to forge his with hot air.
My hopes are that the antagonistic rhetoric that he brought to his party in his time as Speaker exit the political stage with him. Courtesy, mutual respect and compromise have to return as an acceptable outcome if our political system is to survive.
That has to have been one of the longest book tours in history.
Newt and his "robot" wife would make excellent hosts at a Bed & Breakfast.
Now, maybe they will consider the option of getting REAL jobs.
Bed and Breakfast? Sounds like a good retirement thing for them to do, but only if it were a haunted house. Aptly named: Ghoulrich and the White Zombie.
And Romney is giving him money?? That seems to be "Paying It Backward" to me. Did Newt not pay attention? He sure didn't pay his bills. How does one get over 4 million in debt without realizing it? Wish I could manage that trick.
Helmet head applied for welfare
I think Gingrich was just enjoying himself. He has the money, the time, loves everything political - and promoting himself of course. This foray just ran it's course. Upward and onward. I, for one, appreciate his participation.
Jeeeze ..and people pay to hear this guy talk ....
Finally, after he pissed away and spent all of his public financed dollar. Thanks Newt for looking after my tax dollars. I'm sure you spent each one in a good place.
one crook is out of the race..now if we can just get rid of all the other crooks in the parties.
problem is if we do that we wont have any politicians left.
My question is, why is he standing next to a mannequin?
That's a giant PEZ dispenser.
Lewd Gingrich as a genuine stupid republitard never realized that God forgiving him for his trespasses never implied that He would relieve him from the consequences of his life conduct.
Any idiot would have known that Lewd. If you had a sliver of a brain you would have realized that you had no chance whatsoever. The only reason you showed momentarily some sign of life in your political future was because your party is full of idiots and uneducated buffoons that they were voting for you in the retarded backward Southern states you came from. Even these hopeless idiots realized that you had no chance at the end.
Your intelligence is puny and is artificially magnified by your huge ego to look bigger than it is. You will get what you deserve like the other garbage of your party (Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Michelle Bachman, Sarah Palin, Herman Cain, Mit Romney and so many others). You belong to the far side of the Moon.
Finally, you will never be president of this country (like any of the afformentioned republican garbage) and you will never amount to anything of substance for the rest of your life. This is the lesson that you should learn from this experience. Now humbly go back to your hole and live a righteous and sincerely humble life. This is your only hope. That may be very difficult to do because it will require you to denounce your political affiliation with the republiscum party.