Candace Gingrich-Jones Questions Whether Brother Newt Gingrich Really Believes His Own Anti-Gay Rhetoric

Newt Gingrich's openly lesbian half-sister, Candace Gingrich-Jones, says her brother is stuck in a '90s time warp. And she's not sure if he even believes all the anti-gay rhetoric or not.

"I really don't see someone who, on a lot of issues, is very much different than the person who was Speaker of the House in the '90s," she told me in an interview on my radio program on SiriusXM OutQ about the man now surging in the GOP presidential polls. "In a time when we see the majority of Americans supporting marriage equality, let alone almost 80% who were opposed to 'don't ask don't tell'… his positions haven't changed. The world has moved on."

Gingrich-Jones, an activist with the Human Rights Campaign Foundation who has clashed with her brother since the '90s and is backing President Obama for re-election, slammed the caustic remarks Gingrich has made about gays, including his comments earlier in the year that gay marriage is a "temporary aberration."

"An interesting choice of words -- 'temporary aberration' -- I don't think I consider my own marriage an aberration, or that anyone who is in a relationship considers their families to be an aberration," she said. "It might be wishful thinking on his part. Certainly he's seen how the country has moved on the issue. Maybe what really is an aberration is people's opposition to marriage equality."

She's also not sure if Gingrich is faking it all, pandering to the evangelical base in the Republican Party, or if he really believes the claims he makes on homosexuality and LGBT rights.

"He does not treat [my wife] Rebecca and myself any differently from my sister and her husband [at family gatherings]," Gingrich-Jones explained, also noting that, though Gingrich didn't attend her wedding in Boston in 2009 -- he was out of the country -- he did send a gift.

"We got a shower gift as well," she said. "For someone who has publicly and financially opposed marriage equality, he has not so far treated us any differently than a married couple...That's the question that I ask myself, and many have asked me, 'Does he believe the things he says or is he saying them as part of his political stands?' Really, the bottom line is: I don’t like either of the possibilities there, and I don't know what the actual answer is."

Listen to the interview:

Comments

[dre31]

12:38 PM on 12/13/2011

Newt is just ugly. Enough said.

[LovelyGirl]

06:53 AM on 12/13/2011

Newt is just being Newt.

[Makeredhappy]

10:46 AM on 12/13/2011

And this should be tolerated why???! He'll be gone from the race soon, already dropping in Iowa. And again....why is Iowa so freakin' important? There are NO delegates involved again in Iowa!

[PickOneTwoThree]

09:28 PM on 12/12/2011

Gingrich doesn't believe most of the things he says - especially since he's said so many opposing things

[Ricardo01]

08:47 PM on 12/12/2011

I just wonder if Newtie keeps his wife in a box at night. You know, the one she arrived in.

[ATLJunBug]

07:42 PM on 12/12/2011

I believe Slick Newt is really stuck in the 60's rather than the 90's.

Some people have so much education and knowledge they have no room for common sense.

STANDING BY PRESIDENT OBAMA IN 2012

[Makeredhappy]

10:48 AM on 12/13/2011

The new generations need to know how Newt was forced out of the Speakership and out of Congress by Ethics charges made by his own Party!!! The Republicans didn't want him then and can't stand him now. He'll soon be gone....this whole campaign has been only a book tour anyway, that's why he has very limited workers in all the upcoming states. He'll be gone soon...

[BevTX84]

05:40 PM on 12/12/2011

Maybe he considers all marriages 'temporary aberration'

[juanjo]

08:26 PM on 12/12/2011

Well that might be so. After all that is how he has treated 66% of his marriages.

[xenas mom]

06:41 PM on 12/13/2011

Truly.

[WorldGoneWild]

05:02 PM on 12/12/2011

Newt is about Newt's ambition whether that's against same-sex marriage in the Republican primaries or going neural on the subject in the general election to get the moderate vote.

[SantaMonican]

03:56 PM on 12/12/2011

I understand the incorrect twisted logic of middle class republican'ts, that if they associate themselves with rich republican'ts, maybe , someday, some of that wealth will rub off on them. I don't agree with that, but I understand it. Having said that, I still don't understand why anyone who is gay would associate themselves with a party that uses them to divide America.

[outwithshelby]

08:35 PM on 12/12/2011

Tribalism

[duckpuddle]

03:49 PM on 12/12/2011

This just goes to show how important it is to come out to you family, co-workers, neighbors, and friends. When someone knows a gay person, the stereotypes cannot be maintained.

In this case, it sounds like Gingrich has made a political calculation to support anti-gay policies, yet accept his sister as an equal member of his family. He is not being honest with himself. Dick Chaney on the other hand is being honest (in this one regard!). He supports his daughter more strongly than he support this conservative issue.

[hhoc612710]

03:03 PM on 12/12/2011

Candace Gingrich said a few days ago in Rachel show, bad things about her brother and she wants to make sure Obama is re-elected. Sounds good to me.

[GA-GA]

04:12 PM on 12/12/2011

Newt is certainly a hypocrite to oppose gay marriage for the sake of politics if he actually believes there is nothing wrong with it. Frankly, opposition to gay marriage is fine if it is YOUR BELIEF but taking that to the next level and making it illegal for other people whose preferences do not harm you makes no sense to me. That said, Rachel Maddow was absolutely abhorrent in that interview. She kept trying to bait Candace into saying nasty things about Newt and Candace wouldn't go for it. Yet Rachel wouldn't give up - just kept trying and trying. I guess she thought she was going to get more and couldn't let it go. Rachel - get a clue - sometimes you're just wrong!

[hhoc612710]

06:20 PM on 12/12/2011

When Rachel is wrong she always apologizes. I dont think she was wrong, she was pushing Candace to talk about her brother that's all. Candace didn't agree with her brother on many things but she didn't want to talk about them on TV this is why she is going to vote for Obama.

[AnOpposingView]

02:27 PM on 12/12/2011

I'm still learning the rules of being a good "progressive", so help me out please. It's completely wrong to dislike someone because of their gender preference, but it's fine to say ugly things about people who have had more than one marriage. Am I getting that right?

[abscs2000]

03:29 PM on 12/12/2011

So disingenuous, AnOpposingView. It's a character issue, which I'm sure is obvious, even to you.

It's not the idea that N. Leroy had "more than one marriage", it's that he left both of his wives while they were gravely ill, refused to pay child support and carried on a 6 year affair during his second marriage. What exactly is it that you don't get?

[Calimomof2]

08:34 PM on 12/12/2011

Don't forget the asking of said wife to accept him having said mistress.When wife wouldn't agree,only then did the divorce happen.I don't care how many times someone gets married,but,if you are on spouse number 3,what gives that person the right to be the spokesperson for the sanctity of marriage? I have been married once,and have never gotten re-married. I don't consider myself an expert on marriage or divorce.But,I am all for the right of same sex marriage.I liken preventing that right to the old laws of people of different skin color,or different religions who couldn't get married.Are we not intelligent,accepting and mature enough in this day and age to give ALL consenting adults the Right to a legal.binding marriage with the person they love if that is what they desire? Marriage is a LEGAL transaction,and has nothing to do with Religion.I don't care what your religious beliefs are,that's your business.But,preventing people from exercising what should be their legal rights because of prejudice is morally wrong.

[duckpuddle]

03:32 PM on 12/12/2011

Multiple marriages are okay. It is hypocrisy that deserves to be shown the light of day. It is never good to say ugly things...except on Halloween.

[dannywanny]

02:18 PM on 12/12/2011

It hardly matters if he believes what he says. His fans believe it. His beliefs have a tendency to flop around, too, but his fans dont seem to have noticed.

[Manny Laureano]

02:11 PM on 12/12/2011

I think, Candace, that what Mr. Newt shows by his actions is that he loves you. He's just not in favor of same-sex marriage but he puts his love for you as his sister above that. Seems pretty simple. If many gays wouldn't allow themselves to be brainwashed by the more strident in gay "leadership" positions, they'd find that most conservatives feel the same way as Mr. Newt. That is, they don't like same-sex marriage but it doesn't mean they hate gay people. They just don't agree on that one issue. I wish more gays would understand that disagreeing on that one issue is not "spewing hatred". It's merely a disagreement.

[homer winslow]

03:16 PM on 12/12/2011

Sorry, but refusing to grant others the same rights that you hold is indeed hateful.

[duckpuddle]

03:36 PM on 12/12/2011

I don't have a problem with people who disagree with my or same sex marriage. I do have a problem if they turn that disagreement into action in an attempt to limit my access to my rights.

Gingrich is talking out of both sides of his mouth. He may not hate homosexuals, but he certainly fears them enough to promote homophobic policies.

[xenas mom]

06:55 PM on 12/13/2011

Absolutely true!

[StopMakingSense2]

01:51 PM on 12/12/2011

Why would you expect a conservative to become enlightened with the passing of time? They see their failures as successes and others successes as failures. There just isn't much to work with there!

[dannywanny]

02:18 PM on 12/12/2011

Fanned and faved!

[SaneRepublican]

01:48 PM on 12/12/2011

Newt Gingrich's public posture on gays reminds me of my beloved father's ignorance on the issue.

My dad would think little of making "Nancy" cracks in front of my sister and me (both Roman Catholic-educated by very liberal nuns). We would ask our father if he was referring to his favorite nephew, who was gay. Dad always said "Of course I don't mean Joey."

My sister and I reminded him that when other bigots used demeaning words to describe gays, theose comments were directed at Joey. We asked our father how he thought Joey would feel if he heard mean comments about being gay. Sadly, Dad just looked confused; he didn't seem to understand that the gay slurs he used against others would deeply hurt his nephew, whom he loved and respected.

I would not defend Newt Gingrich on any issue, but he may be like my late father: immune from
understanding that bigotry doesn't respect family ties; when we slur others, we're slurring our own.

Or maybe Newt's just a cynical creep appealing to my party's ugly side.

Yeah, probably the latter.

[homer winslow]

03:17 PM on 12/12/2011

Yes, most likely the latter.

[abscs2000]

03:33 PM on 12/12/2011

Is it even possible to be a SaneRepublican?? haha F & F