A day after Newt Gingrich’s come-from-behind win in the South Carolina primary, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney amped up his attacks, blasting the former House Speaker as a "failed leader" who was forced to "resign in disgrace."
“Speaker Gingrich has also been a leader, he was a leader for four years as Speaker of the House,” Romney said at a Florida campaign rally Sunday. “And at the end of four years it was proven he was a failed leader and he had to resign in disgrace.
“And over the last 15 years since he left the House, he talks about great bold movement,” continued Romney. “Well, what’s he been doing for the 15 years? He’s been working as a lobbyist. He’s been working as a lobbyist selling influence around Washington.”
Romney has accused Gingrich of lobbying for government-backed mortgage giant Freddie Mac and called for him to release his consulting contract as well as details of a House ethics investigation of him from the 1990s. Gingrich, however, says he did not lobby for Freddie Mac and served as a "historian" and consultant.
With Gingrich's surprise win in the Palmetto State and new polls showing him overtaking Romney in the next battleground, Florida, the two front-runners have intensified their attacks, lambasting each other at rallies, during interviews and through attack ads.
Romney surrogate Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.) on Sunday said Gingrich had "embarrassed the party, over time" and was "run out of the Speakership by his own party."
“You end up with a guy who I think is a very good salesman, very much wants to sell, but he has a really weak product,” Gingrich said on CBS's "Face the Nation" Sunday about Romney. “So I think he’s been dancing on eggs trying to find a version of Romney that works."
