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Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich insulted a Capitol Hill reporter after the reporter urged him to join the House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol.
‘What do you think of the January 6 committee?’ NBC senior congressional reporter Scott Wong asked Gingrich during a press scrum at the Capitol on Thursday.
“Not me,” he replied, before shaking his head.
Gingrich, 79, was there to help House Republicans with the upcoming election.
Wong continued, “You have no thoughts about the committee itself?” he asked, pointing his cell phone toward Gingrich as other reporters surrounded the former House Speaker.
Gingrich seemed to ignore the reporter before turning to him and saying, “I think you have a learning disability.”
Wong, who seemed stunned by the humiliating remark, replied, “Excuse me?”
Gingrich then gestured with his hands and pointed to his head, “Fact is, I’ve said three or four times I’m not talking about it. Try the sentence – I’m not talking about it.’
Wong then took to his Twitter to post the demeaning comment which garnered over 28K views.
Dressed in a dark suit and red tie, Gingrich seemed to ignore the reporter before turning to him and saying, “I think you have a learning disability.” Wong looked stunned and replied, “Excuse me?”
Scott Wong, a senior congressional reporter at NBC, took to his Twitter and posted the humiliating comment that received more than 28,000 views
The former Speaker of the House was in the Capitol on Thursday to help House Republicans and speak about the upcoming election
Gingrich was asked by the U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol to provide details of his efforts to spread false claims about the 2020 election.
Representative Bennie Thompson, the chair of the Democrat-led Select Committee, said the information the panel obtained included email messages Gingrich exchanged with senior advisers to former President Donald Trump, in which he provided “detailed input” to television commercials. .
When DailyMail.com asked for comment from Gingrich through his Virginia-based company’s website, there was no immediate response.
Thompson said in the letter: “These advertising efforts were not intended to encourage voting for any particular candidate.
“Instead, these efforts sought to cast doubt on the outcome of the election after voting had already taken place.”
It said Gingrich pushed posts intended to incite anger among voters.
Thompson wrote that Gingrich also appeared to be involved in Trump’s plan to name fake voters and emailed his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, about those efforts on the evening of Jan. 6, after Trump supporters attacked the Capitol.
“Information obtained by the Select Committee suggests that you provided detailed guidance on the television ads that perpetuated false claims of fraud in the 2020 election, that you sought ways to increase the reach of these messages, and that you are likely in direct talks with President Trump about these efforts,” Thompson wrote to Gingrich.
Thompson also said the commission had obtained information suggesting Gingrich was involved in a plan to replace state voters with hand-picked candidates who would act to keep Trump in power despite his election defeat.
The committee asked Gingrich to appear the week of September 19 for a voluntary, transcribed interview with Gingrich.
It also asked him to keep all records of any communications he may have had with the White House, Trump, Trump’s legal team or anyone involved in the Jan. 6 events.
Gingrich’s request to cooperate voluntarily comes as the committee quietly continues its investigation and prepares for another series of hearings next month.
Lawmakers and staff have been questioning witnesses and preparing a final report in recent weeks after a series of hearings in June and July shed new light on Trump’s actions before and after the deadly riots — and his lack of response as violence escalated on the capital city.
The House panel investigating the January 6 uprising is seeking information from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (pictured in July)
Committee Chair, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, wrote in a letter sent how the panel received emails Gingrich exchanged with Trump associates
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R) introduces Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a meeting at the Sharonville Convention Center on July 6, 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Trump is campaigning in Ohio for the Republican National Convention next week in Cleveland.
The panel is expected to resume hearings in September ahead of the midterm elections
If Gingrich cooperates, he would be one of more than 1,000 witnesses interviewed by the commission, including dozens of Trump allies
If he cooperates, Gingrich would be one of more than 1,000 witnesses interviewed by the commission, including dozens of Trump allies.
In the letter to Gingrich, Thompson said the former Georgia legislator exchanged emails with senior Trump associates encouraging members of the public to contact state officials and pressure them to reverse Trump’s loss to Joe Biden. to make.
“To that end, these ads were deliberately broadcast in the days leading up to December 14, 2020, the day when voters from every state gathered to cast their votes for president and vice president,” Thompson wrote.
That came as election officials in Georgia faced intimidation and threats of violence.
In a Dec. 8, 2020 email to White House aides, according to the commission, Gingrich wrote: “The goal is to stir the nation’s wrath through new verifiable information that the American people have never seen before.” . …If we inform the American people in a way they find persuasive and it provokes their anger, they will pressure lawmakers and governors.”
The panel also quoted a November 12, 2020 email from Gingrich, just days after the election, to Meadows and then-White House adviser Pat Cipollone: “Is someone in charge of coordinating all voters? … the embattled voters must meet on December 14 and send out ballots to force contests that the house should settle.’
On the evening of Jan. 6, Gingrich Meadows wrote at 10:42 p.m., after the Capitol had been evicted and after Congress resumed Biden’s victory. He asked for letters from state lawmakers about “decertifying voters,” the commission says.
“Surprisingly, the assault on Congress and the activities mandated by the Constitution have not even interrupted your relentless pursuit,” Thompson wrote.
The commission’s eight hearings this summer include not only live witness statements, but clips of video interviews with some of the former president’s closest associates, cabinet secretaries and even family members.
The panel is expected to resume hearings in September, ahead of the midterm elections.
On January 6, 2021, thousands of supporters of Trump, a Republican, stormed the Capitol, encouraged by the then-president in a speech outside the White House to protest the formal congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 election.
Trump has refused to admit he lost the election, instead reiterating baseless accusations that Biden’s victory was the result of election fraud.
The commission is trying to determine what Trump did as thousands of his supporters attacked police, destroyed the Capitol and sent members of Congress and then Vice President Mike Pence on the run for their lives.
The January 6 committee will hold its next hearing on Wednesday.