Newt Gingrich thinks the opposition to religious freedom bills in Indiana and Arkansas and the claim that they encourage anti-LGBT discrimination is an example of a liberal "lynch mob" mentality that seeks to undercut religion in America.
The former Speaker of the House told HuffPost Live on Wednesday that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's promise to fix his state's law, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson's decision to hold off on signing a similar bill and Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy's ban on state-funded travel to Indiana are misguided responses to "selective outrage":
The fact is, for example, the governor of Connecticut announced he wouldn't send people to Indiana. Well, Connecticut has exactly the same law. They adopted it 20 years ago. The head of Apple announces that he's deeply disappointed. Apple sells cell phones in Saudi Arabia, where being homosexual is a death penalty. The level of selective outrage, the opportunity to pick a fight -- the news media couldn't help themselves.
Gingrich said the opposition to the law by "people on the Left" -- many of whom he accused of having "no idea" what was in the bill -- is an example of attempts to "destroy religious liberty" to serve their own agenda.
"The word went out: 'Whatever it is, we're against it. This week we're against the color green, next week we'll be against the color blue,'" Gingrich said. "You look at the number of institutions -- the NBA, NASCAR, go down the list. This is pure mob psychology."
When host Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani asserted that it's possible to uphold traditional values without being discriminatory, Gingrich's response was blunt: "No, you can't."
"Go down the list of what religions really believe, and then look at how many things are now politically incorrect," Gingrich said. "You read certain passages from the Bible, and you're going to be attacked on some university campuses because you violate their politically-correct code."
Gingrich appeared on HuffPost Live's "What's Working" to discuss the sense of unity that came from the Bipartisan Summit on Criminal Justice Reform, which he co-hosted last week.
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