On Wednesday night's "Daily Show" Jon Stewart once again mocked the only foreseeable Republican candidate for the 2012 Presidential race as of late, Newt Gingrich.
While Gingrich is not a political newcomer by any means, now that he's officially announced his candidacy it's time to make a new first impression. Supporters like Rudy Guiliani have dubbed him an intellectual, even "one of the smartest people in America," and maybe he aimed to prove that to his conservative base on his recent "Meet The Press" appearance.
Well, things didn't exactly go to plan. Gingrich surprised everyone when he made the remarkably moderate statement that the Rep. Paul Ryan's GOP Medicare bill is as "radical" as the left's. Stewart couldn't believe what he was hearing:
"Wow. [He's] appealing to the moderate wing of the Republican Party, a wing which as you know has been closed for renovation since Nelson Rockefeller died."
But the moderateness wouldn't last for long. Conservative pundits had a fit over Gingrich's comments and suggested he was "urinating inside the family circle" and had "detonated his candidacy." Instead of standing by his statements, Gingrich placed the blame on "Meet The Press," saying it was a "set-up" and implying that David Gregory had somehow tricked him into saying Ryan's plan was radical. He even said, "any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood."
"You know I've always said the hallmark of an honest conversation starts with, 'If you quote me directly utilizing videotape of my comments in context, you're lying'," Stewart said.
Watch the rest of the segment to see hear Stewart's reaction to Newt's first campaign trail meet-and-greets, which haven't exactly been going very smoothly (although they have been sparkly).
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