Newt Gingrich: Obama's Trayvon Martin Statement 'Disgraceful'

Republican presidential candidate, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich speaks during the Gulf Coast Energy Summit at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum on March 12, 2012 in Biloxi, Mississippi. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Republican hopeful Newt Gingrich slammed Barack Obama on Friday, saying the president's remarks about the fatal February shooting of Trayvon Martin were "disgraceful."

President Barack Obama addressed Martin's death during a Rose Garden appearance earlier Friday, framing the tragedy in personal terms by saying, "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon." Gingrich responded to Obama's remarks during a "Hannity Radio" interview:

What the president said, in a sense, is disgraceful. It’s not a question of who that young man looked like. Any young American of any ethnic background should be safe, period. We should all be horrified no matter what the ethnic background.

Is the president suggesting that if it had been a white who had been shot, that would be OK because it didn’t look like him. That’s just nonsense dividing this country up. It is a tragedy this young man was shot. It would have been a tragedy if he had been Puerto Rican or Cuban or if he had been white or if he had been Asian American of if he’d been a Native American. At some point, we ought to talk about being Americans. When things go wrong to an American, it is sad for all Americans. Trying to turn it into a racial issue is fundamentally wrong. I really find it appalling.

Gingrich's comments came amid boiling public outrage over the death of Martin -- an unarmed, 17-year-old African American shot by a volunteer neighborhood watchman. The former House speaker commented on the shooting Thursday during an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan, calling it a "tragedy."

Comments

[toots1941]

01:28 AM on 07/12/2012

There are probably hundreds of kids killed each day across American, why is he even commenting on Trayvon, guess he needs the black vote come November.
We need to pray for the safety for all of our children,

[Steamy]

03:44 PM on 04/13/2012

I realize that this is a week later than the last post, but I had people actually accuse me of being racist and I have been fighting for Trayvon to have him and his family get justice for this, what I thought, was premeditated murder. He had been told by 911 operators to leave him and not to pursue him. Zimmerman went ahead and ignored those instructions, continued to follow a scared teen until he was close enough to fire his gun 1 time and kill this child. How am I a racist because I want him to have justice? It pisses me off. I don't give a big behind what color a person is on the outside. It's the inside that I care about. I am LGBT an am judged constantly for the way I was born. I do not pass that judgement on to others because of the way that they are born. If you spend your comment calling me a racist and telling me how I live and where and what I have, when you don't know anything about my life or what I don't have or where I don't live... Then, you are the racist. It's called reverse racism and it is judging me because I was born white. Something I shouldn't have to point out, I also had no control over any more than being gay. So please, get off me!!
One more thing, Praise God that Zimmerman was finally arrested for his crime!

[tincity28466]

09:32 AM on 04/05/2012

Gingrich needs to shutup because I dont care how much you dress it up; RACISM STILL EXISTS!!! He's trying to bash Obama just like all of these other Republicant's that havent done a damn thing but talk about what he's not doing. Get over it. The man was saying that trayvon could have made something out of his life as a young black male just like he did; but he'll never have that opportunity now.. So to all you haters of Obama, all I can say is OBAMA 2012!!!! Justice for TRAYVON MARTIN and everyone else who has been discriminated against in this country!!!

[didanvwisgi]

10:48 AM on 03/31/2012

What obama has done is put his foot in his mouth with one of his feel good speeches.. He said if he had a son, he'd look like trayvon, yeah, he'd be black, ok, Zimmerman was NOT charged with ANY crime, and if "innocent trayvon actually did initiate the incident, then obama is also saying that this would be the behavior he would expect from his son... Gold tooth, wife beater t-shirt, hoodie, expelled from school for drugs etc... And why use the black panthers? Just get obama to use some more tax payer dollars and use the Nave Seals, they are are obviously allowed to perform necessary executions. Oh, I deliberately did not capitalize the names above, neither are important enough for me to do so....

[higheel]

03:19 PM on 04/05/2012

So Zimmerman, Gold, and Navy Seals are important enough to capitalize? I surprised you didn't capitalize Wife Beater. All the things you listed are not worth killing someone over... so why would anything that Trayvon had done from that list merit him being killed had he done them. Zimmerman did not know what kind of person Trayvon was so all that is a moot point.

[Annoyedashell2012]

08:31 AM on 03/30/2012

Newt is an idiot. I don't care how many times you try to deny racism IT STILL EXISTS! If it had of been a white young kid there would be an outcry as well. It's ashame this happened period. Is it ok for everyone to get out in their neighborhood and drive around with a gun to protect the neighborhood? Who doesn't look suspicious in the dark? Everyone looks suspicious to me but i don't qualify to decide who is suspicious and NEITHER does Zimmerman! Newt didn't slam President Obama for his comments he slammed him because he is a black President and they have all been slamming him since he walked in the office.

[BlueArizonan]

03:20 PM on 03/29/2012

Do we think Newt is being even more disingenuous than normal, or is he really just that confused? Obviously, the President was in no way suggesting that it would have been okay for Zimmerman or anyone else to shoot a white kid. He was acknowledging that Trayvon's race had something to do with how Zimmerman perceived him.

[toots1941]

01:30 AM on 07/12/2012

In other words, our President played the race card.

[BlueArizonan]

12:13 AM on 07/14/2012

What, exactly, is the race card?

I think that is the most ridiculous phrase ever. Are people not allowed to talk about race anymore? Does it not exist? Or is this more of a Romney-esque something that is "okay to talk about in quiet rooms" only?

I know we're in an era where its impolite and imprudent to publicly judge someone by their race or their gender, but anyone who's not living in a cave know it still happens ALL THE TIME. Peruse the academic literature in occupational psychology, social psychology, anthropology, sociology, etc and you will see that race and gender influence everything from who people sit next to on the train to who managers invite for an interview. The President (or you or I or the Queen of England) pretending like that doesn't happen doesn't actually make it not happen.

I assume you're planning to vote for Romney. You know, the guy who just told the NAACP that he would be a better POTUS for African Americans. Is that not the race card because he brought up someone else's race? I really just don't get it.

[Aneyeforaneye]

12:03 PM on 03/29/2012

How long are we gonna allow our children to be "walking targets" ???????????? Before we put an end to this non-sense..........

[PMJ79]

09:08 PM on 03/27/2012

Newt is talking about things that are disgraceful. Deflect, deflect, deflect. He is the master of deflection.

[Aneyeforaneye]

12:01 PM on 03/29/2012

It's so easy to tell which comments are made by white folk. SO SAD!! THE MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE!!!!! The worst part is that they think they're right!

[Devin Lake]

11:01 AM on 03/31/2012

Racist

[didanvwisgi]

11:18 AM on 03/31/2012

As well, it's so easy to pick out the typical blacks on here.. Like yourself...

[faf0005]

07:46 PM on 04/01/2012

You said the magic words.

[James Mozingo]

01:16 PM on 03/27/2012

How come when its white on black the world shakes,but when its blk on white ,very little is said ?

[El the 1]

11:37 PM on 03/28/2012

Because it never happens oh when it does something always gets done about it. And the punishment is always severe. All through out history white v/s black we have always received a unfair outcome in any and every situation. The facts support it too.

[higheel]

03:23 PM on 04/05/2012

Because when it happens someone is arrested because a crime has been committed. It doesn't matter what the color is... someone should have been arrested for a crime and let him/her have their day in court. At least you can call that a form of justice... but justice is not served when someone kills another person and someone is not arrested.

[btlflpztk]

12:34 PM on 03/27/2012

Whatever you think of Newt, he contributes to the over-all political balance, stimulates opposing viewpoints (the more the better), livens up a sometimes dull political contest, is another colorful spice in the recipe of free political discourse. I am not a fan, but I do respect and appreciate him for that.

[pfreddie88]

12:31 PM on 03/27/2012

He's like the guest at the house party when it's time for him to go, but no one wants to tell him....

[btlflpztk]

05:25 PM on 03/27/2012

Possibly, but I'll bet he livened up that party!

[EconomicInsite]

11:52 AM on 03/27/2012

Also odd to hear a guy who volunteered to attend the NAACP convention so he could "explain to blacks why they need to demand paychecks, not food stamps" say that he thinks anyone else in the world is trying to be divisive.

[EconomicInsite]

11:51 AM on 03/27/2012

If it were 9am and Barack Obama said it was a "good morning", Newt, Rick, and Mitt would slam him for trying to divide the day against each other, and siding with the morning against the evening or afternoon. They'd then tell you how the morning is actually evil, God hates it, the word morning was invented by socialists, and liberal college professors are trying to use it to steal our youth and turn them into evil democrats.

[Joe Dallas]

07:57 AM on 03/27/2012

evidence indicates trayvon was the aggressor

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-03-26/news/os-trayvon-martin-zimmerman-account-20120326_1_miami-schools-punch-unarmed-black-teenager

[El the 1]

11:42 PM on 03/28/2012

F--kin liar!!

[mspage84]

12:30 PM on 03/29/2012

You obviously have not listened to the 911 operator tell the AGGRESOR NOT to chase this KID!! The AGGRESSOR got out HIS car anyway and CHASED Trayvon! HE was the AGGRESOR, ATTACKER, and MURDERER!!!!!!!!!! IF Trayvon struck his AGGRESOR, it was in self-defense. He would have had no choice but to use his hands, as the Skittles and can of tea didn't scare the gunman away!!!!!

[Annoyedashell2012]

08:36 AM on 03/30/2012

Thanks for your honesty mspage84...it's about right and wrong. Who can take another's life and walk away free...i sure couldn't and justice is what we need for that. This was someone's son, friend, loved one.

[Samuel Kemp]

11:29 PM on 03/26/2012

Ole Newt Leroy has nothing better to do than try a new twist or should I say an old tactic: Race Baiting! It's a shame Newt and the others have stooped to such a low level to be the nominee to lose in November. Now Newt calling Obama statement Political a shame and Racist is the equivalent of saying David Duke loves Blacks and he never denied the Holocaust. Newt is the type person that the less you hear of or from him the better it is for HIM!!