Saturday, April 20, 2024

Gingrich Twitters "En Español"

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has launched a Spanish language Twitter account.  Already a regular commenter on the social media network, “Gingrich Espanol” first posted on July 9 announcing his appearance on conservative Neil Cavuto’s TV show on the Fox news network.

In 2007Gingrich caused outrage in the Hispanic community, when, speaking to the National Federation of Republican Women, he said,

“The American people believe English should be the official language of the government. … We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto.”

In the same speech, Gingrich criticized bilingual ballots incorrectly alleging that the government mandates printing them in any one of “700 languages depending on who randomly shows up.”

Earlier this year, Gingrich caused controversy again when he accused Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor of being a racist.  Referencing a speech on diversity that Sotomayor gave in 2001, he “tweeted” that “A White male racist nominee would be forced to resign”, adding that “Latina woman racist should also withdraw”.

Despite his comment against Sotomayor being reposted by the RNC, other Republicans spoke out against Gingrich’s assertion stating his it went too far.  He later backed away from the statement saying while her comment was racist, Sotomayor, herself, was not.

Gingrich reportedly considered a run for the presidency in 2008 and is rumored to be exploring the possibility for 2012 as well.

http://twitter.com/gingrichespanol

Think Progress

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