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Former Speaker of the House and Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich clashed with the Twitterverse after calling US embassies flying the pride flag “un-American.”
In an interview with Fox News (or elsewhere), Gingrich criticized the Biden administration’s decision to overturn Trump-era executive orders that prohibited embassies from flying the flag.
“Every silly thing the Biden administration has done in the first 100 days,” Gingrich said, “whether it’s threatening anyone who believes in the Second Amendment or attacking anyone who believes in the right to life, or attacking people of traditional values. who are appalled that this administration would fly the gay flag in US embassies around the world … It’s almost like they have a checklist of ‘What can we do that will really make traditional Americans angry?’ ‘
Related: Newt Gingrich Wants To Teach You How To Be A Better Gay
“I could not imagine an administration that would have been so deliberately anti-American and deliberately committed to infuriating the majority of the American people,” he added.
Never one to remain silent, Twitter criticized Gingrich for his remarks, pointing to his long-standing homophobia and opposition to gay rights, as well as his own hypocrisy in repeatedly getting married and divorced.
Gingrich had an affair with his third wife while he was married to his second. Does this fall under “traditional values”? https://t.co/pAXRm9dPEj
– John Haltiwanger (@jchaltiwanger) April 26, 2021
“Gingrich had an affair with his third wife while he was married to his second,” asked user John Haltiwanger. “Does this come under ‘traditional values’?”
“A reminder that Republican elites still hate gay people,” the activist publication Reconstructionist tweeted.
“Newt Gingrich really released his 1996 playbook tonight,” noted MSNBC columnist Chris Geidner. In 1996, Gingrich strongly opposed LGBTQ rights under the umbrella of “traditional values”. He was later revealed to have been engaged in an extramarital affair at the time.
I can see why Newt Gingrich is against the pride flag.
He never did anything to be proud.
– Renee Libby ?? (@ReneeAlida) April 25, 2021
“I can see why Newt Gingrich is against wearing the pride flag. He never did anything to be proud, ”joked user Renee Libby.
Newt Gingrich has a long history of attacks on the LGBTQ community, including opposition to marriage equality. He has been widely criticized for his role in political polarization. In 1997, he became the first Speaker of the House in US history to be sanctioned for ethics violations in connection with claiming tax-exempt status for a college political course. The following year he resigned his post in disgrace. Gingrich has also been criticized for his own sordid personal life, including the divorce of his first wife Jackie Battley in 1980 while undergoing treatment for uterine cancer and the divorce of his second wife Marianne Ginther just after his diagnosis of sclerosis in plates. Gingrich is also known to have a lot of affairs during both marriages.
