Gingrich: Muted debate result of Romney's 'blatantly dishonest performance'

Newt Gingrich said that his uncharacteristically muted tone at Thursday's GOP debate - the last before the pivotal Florida primary - was a response to Mitt Romney's "blatantly dishonest" statements at points throughout the debate.

“I think it’s the most blatantly dishonest performance by a presidential candidate I’ve ever seen,” Gingrich said during an interview with the Washington Post.

Romney turned in one of his most animated performances of the cycle, blasting Gingrich for his rhetoric on immigration and a proposal to build a colony on the moon. But Gingrich said that certain moments - including Romney insisting that he had never seen an ad by his campaign critical of Gingrich - were "totally dishonest."

Gingrich also insinuated that Romney was lying about his claim to have never voted for a Democrat when a Republican alternative was available, and said at points he was so stunned by Romney's answers that he had to step back from his lectern.

But while Romney's statements would seem ripe for rebuttal - especially from Gingrich, who has dominated prior debates through blistering critiques of other candidates and the media - the House speaker said the extent of Romney's deception shook his confidence.

“I wanted to fact check. I wanted to make sure he was as totally dishonest as I thought he was," Gingrich said.

Romney was corrected once by moderator Wolf Blitzer after insisting he had not seen an ad that criticized Gingrich for saying that Spanish was a language of the urban "ghettos" - a quote Gingrich insisted was ripped out of context. That ad was funded by Romney's campaign and included a tag of Romney approving the message.

It's the second time Romney had feigned ignorance to a critical commercial; in a New Hampshire debate, Romney insisted he had not seen Iowa ads funded by his super PAC critical of Gingrich, but went on moments later to describe the exact contents of an ad.

But even if Romney was being intentionally deceptive, Gingrich's muted response seems to have effectively won the debate for the former governor. Bettors on the online site Intrade downgraded Gingrich's odds of winning the GOP nomination from around 10 percent to just 3 percent during the debate, and recent polls show Romney approaching a double-digit lead in the state.

 

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