Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich doubled down Wednesday with attacks on Mitt Romney.
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich doubled down Wednesday with attacks on Mitt Romney.
Gingrich, who finished a disappointing fourth in Iowa, blames negative ads purchased by groups that support Romney for his tumble in polls. He ripped Romney in a speech after the caucuses on Tuesday and continued his criticism Wednesday morning, attacking the former Massachusetts governor as a "Massachusetts moderate."
"What's really striking about last night is that three out of four Republicans again repudiated Mitt Romney," he said. "By the time he [Romney] gets to South Carolina and Florida it will be obvious, this is not a conservative Republican. He is not going to win the nomination and he is not the most electable candidate," Gingrich said on MSNBC's "Daily Rundown" in New Hampshire.
The former Speaker offered more support for Rick Santorum, who lost to Romney in Iowa by only eight votes.
"Rick Santorum had a great night last night. I think he earned that night. He worked his heart out crisscrossing the state of Iowa. He is a terrific person," said Gingrich.
Gingrich told viewers that he believes both he and Santorum will draw a contrast for voters against front-runner Romney.
"We're going to be out here trying to say how we're the best candidates and in the process I think we're both going to be defining Romney out of the mainstream of the Republican Party," he said.
He told MSNBC that moving forward he plans to reassess his campaign strategy to take on Romney and the barrage of negative ads leveled against him. He slammed Romney and to a lesser extent Texas Rep. Ron Paul for supporting what he said was a negative ad campaign strategy.
"So now we've got to go back and figure out how you run in an environment where you clearly have two guys who are going to say things that aren't honest and aren't accurate and we're going to spend millions of dollars doing so," Gingrich said.
Gingrich also doubled down on his earlier comments that Romney has been lying to voters.
"He's not truthful abut his record in Massachusetts and his background. He's not truthful about his PAC, which has his staff running it and his millionaire friends donating to it, although in secret, and the PAC itself is not truthful in its ads," Gingrich said.
Despite his harsh criticism of Romney, Gingrich said he would support the former Massachusetts governor against President Obama in a general election.
But he made it clear he would back Santorum in a choice between the former Pennsylvania senator, who served in the House with Gingrich, and Romney.
"I clearly like Rick Santorum a lot and I think Rick Santorum will tell you he likes me a lot," Gingrich said. "We are personally very good friends and have known each other for many, many years."
