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Gingrich says wife Callista would be 'great' member of men-only golf club
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04/05/12 05:20 PM ET
Newt Gingrich thinks his wife would be a “great” member of an historically men-only golf club located in his home state.
The GOP presidential hopeful offered his support for his wife’s membership in a tweet on Thursday.
I think callista would be a great member #Augusta -maybe she would let me come and play
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) April 5, 2012
A debate over Georgia’s hallowed men’s golf club, the Augusta National, took center stage in the campaign on Thursday when President Obama sparked fresh controversy over the club’s historic 'no women allowed' rule.
The Georgia club, where the Masters golf tournament began on Thursday morning, was founded in 1933 and has never accepted female members. This year, one of the professional tournament’s corporate sponsors, technology company IBM, appointed a woman as its chief executive. The CEOs of the tournament's corporate sponsors have traditionally been offered a complimentary membership in the club, but Virginia Rometty has not yet been offered one.
Front-runner Mitt Romney also weighed in from the campaign trail later in the day.
"Well, of course," Romney said, according to multiple sources. “Of course I'd have women in Augusta. Sure."
Both Carney and Romney noted that the club has a right to make its own decisions on the matter.
The GOP presidential candidates have often used Obama’s avid golfing to take shots at him for spending too much time away from important economic issues.
Romney noted in responding to the topic Thursday that he’s not much of a golfer, and Gingrich informed the crowd at CPAC earlier this year that he is a "very bad golfer." But his wife, Callista, is a noted golfer, and has been playing since a young age.
She tweeted that she would “love” to belong to Augusta.
I'm a golfer and I'd love to belong to #Augusta.
— Callista Gingrich (@CallyGingrich) April 5, 2012
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