Newt Gingrich thinks Occupy Wall Street protesters are “anti-civilization.”
Wow. Just, wow. Appearing at a campaign rally in Florida yesterday, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich claimed that the 99%, a movement seen on every newspaper, website and cable show around the country, simply doesn’t exist.
Asked by a supporter how Gingrich would handle the Occupy Wall Street movement if he win the White House, the former Congressman first tried to paint the movement as destructive brats, and then insisted they should be taken down.
“There is a strain of hostile people on the left organized across the country who believe in trashing things, believe in destroying things,” he said, according to RawStory. “Who do they think paid for the park they are sleeping in? Who do they thing paid for the bathroom they want to use? Who do they think paid for the food they’re eating?”
He continued, “I think we ought to confront them head on… Every city government has an absolute obligation to enforce the rule of law and to protect private property and, frankly, they ought to be filming these people, and every person who engages in violence ought be given a very long vacation from the streets…”
Protesters at this point interrupted Gingrich by yelling “mic check” and chanting “the 99 percent,” spurring the candidate to declare, audaciously, “There is no such thing in America as 99 percent! We are 100 percent Americans! We are all part of America!”
Yes, the 99% may be part of America, but they’re still not united with the 1%, a group of which Gingrich, with an estimated fortune of at least $7 million and made thousands working for big business, is a member. Just because you wouldn’t deign to hang out with them doesn’t mean they don’t exist, Mr. G.
Earlier in his remarks, Gingrich described the Occupy Wall Street activists as “destructive, hostile, [and] anti-civilization.” Pretty strong words for people who allegedly don’t exist.
Image via Shutterstock.
November 18, 2011 at 5:18 pm, Rsadler said:
I think he was saying its 99 against one we r all part of the hundred percent
Drawing and arbitrary line doesn’t make the 2 groups
November 18, 2011 at 11:31 pm, Jbrown413 said:
Newt is a seasoned, hypocritical politician, just like most of them, trying to further his future by pretending to be a Washington outsider who has supported, at one time or another, most things the Tea party base abhors, including the individual mandate to buy health insurance. Good luck with that Newt, you lying sack of fertilizer.
November 19, 2011 at 2:57 am, Willytime said:
Newt came from humble beginnings just like myself and we are both now millionaires. I’d like to understand the 99% argument a bit better because I don’t understand it. Maybe it has a timeline? Envy is a very ugly thing. I also find it absolutely hilarious that the same people who were running about the streets in glee, honking horns and shouting after the election in Nov 2008 are the same people rioting and miserable in the streets. They want a bail out? They got one from the very man they elected-$900 billion worth. They made their beds (or should I say tents) and now they can sleep in them. Fools.
November 19, 2011 at 7:41 pm, dennishastings said:
You clearly have very little redeeming qualities if that is what you really think. It’s a complete fiction that none of these people have jobs. That’s just the statement of an idiot. You’re still mad you lost the last election. And you’ll lose this one too. Obama is not responsible for the financial collapse… you just don’t like the way he dealt with it, which is another point entirely.
November 19, 2011 at 10:15 pm, Joycenech said:
What an ugly attitude you have towards others. These people are not asking for a “bail out.” They want a job and one that will feed their families. When was the last time you helped anyone out with your “millions?”
November 21, 2011 at 3:32 pm, Bradley said:
Willy I am glad that you are a Millionaire, and thanks to the country that gave you the opportunity to do that..With Nooooot he has made him millions from being a corporate whore sleeze bucket who isnt even man enough to honor his wedding vows let alone fill the office of the President. Now,lets now roll back your imaginary clock and have you start all over to see if you could do it again…I doubt not. You would never stand a chance and you would be fighting for a $10 an hour job like everyone else with no way to make it to the next level. You like most of your kind are so removed from the real world that you dont have a clue. Its runaway Capitalism that has given you your money, and We the People that are standing up and coming for the same chance you had.
January 23, 2012 at 7:23 am, Jerilyn Bridges said:
Newt came from an upper middle class experience! I seriously doubt an embezzler calls the detective a person with envy! I fully understand the 1%. I truly understood them when they had to admit that most of their facts were, for want of a better word: lies!
Strange how that 900 billion actually paved the way for jobs and the 400 billion that Shrubbie gave you folks paved the way for financial disaster. My cure, mabe Elizabeth Warren can help us folks get rid of “bed bugs” like you! : lots of high heat and steam! Then maybe you idiots will remember not to call us fools!
November 19, 2011 at 11:50 am, BIGJ said:
My father never gave me a dime because he didn’t have a dime to give. I worked my way up using my own strength and determination. This is America. Anyone can become anything they dream of becoming. All of time these protestors are spending in the streets could have been spent in school or at career fairs. When I needed more money, I worked harder because that is what good Americans do. When they need more money, they camp in a park and screw everyone’s life up, the same people who are paying for that park to be there in the first place for them to use.?????? What is that? You are not real Americans. Stop complaining and get to work.
November 19, 2011 at 7:39 pm, dennishastings said:
Not real Americans? Your crass generalizations just paint you as greedy and clueless. How does camping in a park generate money for them? That’s just stupid. Everyone contributes taxes to pay for the parks, not just you, moron.
November 19, 2011 at 8:36 pm, Lowreypest said:
I agree with you 100%. These people didn’t make it by protestin on the street. They made it by hard work &: determination.
I have had cancer 3 times, had a lumbar lamenectomy, had to have a double by-pass and was recently identified with fibrosis of the upper lungs,
You don’t see crying and protesting on the streets and expecting everyone else to pay. I continue to work hard to get where I want to be.
Quit whinning and go get a job. These people didn’t start at the top. It took them a long time to get there.
If you think this country is so bad, PLEASE LEAVE & SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT SOMEWHERE
November 20, 2011 at 11:17 am, hopeful said:
Hello!!! Protest is at the heart of America. If protest were not allowed. . . women would not have the right to vote, the civil rights movement would never have happened etc. etc. etc. To tell Americans to leave America for doing something that TOTALLY defines the American value you set seems a pretty UNAmerican sentiment. Do you consider yourself American. You sound more elitist to me.
November 23, 2011 at 3:25 pm, soon to be the 1% said:
The right to free speech and to disagree with said protest is equally American. Just because they are exercising their right to protest does not make them right. With freedom comes the right to be a moron, which they have proven. With the exception of the comments about the protesters being unAmerican, I agree wholeheartedly with the previous posts.
January 23, 2012 at 7:16 am, Jerilyn Bridges said:
Amen! I don’t think any one of these folks have ever truly worked a day in their lives. Too much “let them eat cake” and not enough dirt under their fingernails!
If we want some reward for our hard work, we had better take our souls to the polls and revive Glass- Stegal! before they do something really bad!
January 23, 2012 at 7:13 am, Jerilyn Bridges said:
They made it by stealing money from hard working folks! You know what gets your attention, rounding up your Kenneth Lays and Bernie Madoffs and hauling their crokked behinds to jail! Before the year 2000, you lazy slobs got put in jail for what you’re trying to pass off as “hard work”! I think we should just round you up and send you where you sent the jobs: China! Then we can replace you..
November 19, 2011 at 8:36 pm, Lowreypest said:
I agree with you 100%. These people didn’t make it by protestin on the street. They made it by hard work &: determination.
I have had cancer 3 times, had a lumbar lamenectomy, had to have a double by-pass and was recently identified with fibrosis of the upper lungs,
You don’t see crying and protesting on the streets and expecting everyone else to pay. I continue to work hard to get where I want to be.
Quit whinning and go get a job. These people didn’t start at the top. It took them a long time to get there.
If you think this country is so bad, PLEASE LEAVE & SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT SOMEWHERE
November 19, 2011 at 8:36 pm, Lowreypest said:
I agree with you 100%. These people didn’t make it by protestin on the street. They made it by hard work &: determination.
I have had cancer 3 times, had a lumbar lamenectomy, had to have a double by-pass and was recently identified with fibrosis of the upper lungs,
You don’t see crying and protesting on the streets and expecting everyone else to pay. I continue to work hard to get where I want to be.
Quit whinning and go get a job. These people didn’t start at the top. It took them a long time to get there.
If you think this country is so bad, PLEASE LEAVE & SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT SOMEWHERE
January 23, 2012 at 7:09 am, Jerilyn Bridges said:
You lying dog! I bet your daddy gave you everything he could muster! Having done the career fair BS, I know you’re lying! When you need money you steal it from poor folks! We didn’t let you mess us up during the Clinton era! You had to pay your taxes! All this Marie Antoinette is not American at all! I hate tp burst your bubble, but the American Way includes everybody paying their fair share! So shut and PAY YOUR TAXES!
November 19, 2011 at 7:36 pm, dennishastings said:
Who do they think paid for the parks? They did, Newt. The food they eat? They paid for their food. It’s a very strange headspace to think that all of the people at all these protests don’t have jobs. He’s clueless. OWS is against corporate crime. That’s the bottom line. And corporate socialism.
November 20, 2011 at 11:46 am, Anonymous said:
It would take more than one bath to clean the sleaze off Gingrich. He’s
a liar and con artist. When the neo-cons call the protestors bums and
hippies it is all part of their propaganda campaign orchestrated by
their PR agencies. Everyone should go look at this photo. http://www.democracynow.org/20…
November 20, 2011 at 11:49 am, Anonymous said:
Sorry here’s the correct link:
http://goo.gl/RRixu
November 22, 2011 at 12:42 pm, Anonymous said:
Look at the image of the 80 year old grandmother after she was pepper sprayed in the face. Also I suggest people understand constitutional rights as well as examining our roots which smack of imperialism, colonialism and puritanism and are firmly ensconced within our institutions favoring the1% power elite ensuring& maintaining the status quo.
November 22, 2011 at 12:45 pm, Davidram43 said:
I don’t exist because Baal says so? Will that work as an excuse at tax time? I doubt. This family values representative seems to be really out of touch. I’ll be sure to vote for someone else.