Posted on 01/24/2012 8:21:28 AM PST by Bigtigermike
Newt Gingrich insists his fans will not be silenced.
Mr. Gingrich, a former House speaker, on Tuesday morning threatened not participate in any future debates with audiences that have been instructed to be silent. That was the case on Monday, when Brian Williams of NBC News asked the audience of about 500 people who assembled for a debate in Tampa to hold their applause until the commercial breaks.
In an interview with the morning show “Fox and Friends,” Mr. Gingrich said NBC’s rules amounted to stifling free speech. In what has become a standard line of attack for his anti-establishment campaign, Mr. Gingrich blamed the media for trying to silence a dissenting point of view.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com ...
I thought it made for a more professional debate. No screaming or interrupting the speakers. I guess if Newt must bow out of the debates, then you must do what you must do. He will be missed. He is the only entertaining one in the group that much is for sure.
Using populism against the media.
Lovin’ it.
Brian Williams: OK then they can applaud when Gov Romney speaks
Do I need the /s ???
bad move to demand an audience.. he is always bragging on himself as a superior debater.. if he is such a great debater then he should be more than willing to debate anyone anywhere with or without an audience
With due respect, you could not be more wrong. It did not make for a more “professional” debate. It made for an awkward little food fight where the enemy - liberals in Obama’s administration and the media -were ignored.
The passion of the Republican base IS A LEGIT part of this election, and to “remove” that passion artificially actually made for a phony debate, not a real one.
Moreover, if Newt skips the debate, so will the viewers. He will not “be missed.” The debate will “be missed” because few would watch it. IT’s like TV ratings for a golf tournament without Tiger Woods. Zero.
Sorry, Newt is wrong on this one. This isn’t a town meeting, its a Presidential debate. Now we are going to have every primary and general election debate be a clap fest with the candidates packing the audience. Yuck.
It was a boring debate. If the audience can’t participate, then why have an audience? Newt is right.
I don’t think his saying this was such a good idea. It makes him sound petulant.
agree NBC did this on purpose to take Newt out and so the crowd would not cheer when Newt called the idiotic bias liberal Williams out.
It has to be the most pathetic boring debate I have seen and boy there has been some awful debates.
All Williams wanted was for Romney to attack Newt and not let Newt go back after him and bring up the MSM messiah.
Pathetic questions, pathetic debate and the crowd should have just ignored Williams and that dozy local so called reporter
I’ve got no interest in winners being chosen by applause meter.
If the audience must remain silent, why even have an audience? Hold a debate on the “The Five” set on Fox News, with one moderator and four candidates sitting around the table.
Great. /s
This means Romney will challenge Newt to 7 3-hour debates with no audience.
It’s a party primary debate. its supposed to be about activists and the base.
If we aren’t part of it, then you might as well not have one.
State-Run Media will just see to it the audience is filled with Occupy Wall Street and Move-on dot org people.
It’s a party primary debate. its supposed to be about activists and the base.
If we aren’t part of it, then you might as well not have one.
Lead Newt, lead! It’s like being told not to cheer at a football game.
More professional, perhaps, but dead boring.
I literally fell asleep, and I’m a political wonk.
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