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BY ADELE SAMMARCO
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
On the heels of an upset win in the South Carolina primary, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called Newt Gingrich an “embarrassment to the party” on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday.
Despite having his ex-wife publicly announce the former Speaker of the House is not ‘morally fit to be President,” Gingrich ran away with the primary with the majority of southern voters declaring their support, rather admonishing Gingrich for his past infidelities.
There has been widespread speculation that Christie, a Mitt Romney supporter, would be picked as Romney’s Vice Presidential running mate.
Pointing to ethics violations of the late 1990’s while Gingrich was Speaker, Christie said, "He was run out of the speakership by his own party,” telling NBC’s David Gregory, “This is a guy who has had a very difficult political career at times and has been an embarrassment to the party.”
Christie cited Gingrich’s $300,000 payment to resolve allegations of relaying misleading information in a 1997 ethics probe and noted Romney does not have such a scandalous background.
"I think Newt Gingrich has embarrassed the party, over time," Christie reiterated warning, "Whether he will do it again in the future, I don't know. But Governor Romney never has."
In the meantime, Mitt Romney has stepped up his attacks on Gingrich in preparation of the Florida primary, questioning the work Gingrich did for Freddie Mac and demanded his records be released.
Gingrich said his former company is working around confidentiality agreements and added he found it “ironic” that Romney is advocating for this release while he has yet to release his own tax records.
“Here’s someone who has released none of his business records, who has decided to make a stand on transparency without being transparent,” Gingrich told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
Christie has urged Romney to release his tax records and Romney has recently announced that he will comply.
Gingrich has stated that his position with mortgage giant Freddie Mac, in which he earned $1.6 million, was that of a "strategic advisor".
"Strategic advisor?” blasted Christie, “That is the oldest Washington dodge in the book. That's because he didn't want to register as a lobbyist. First he said he was a historian, now he says he was a strategic advisor. He was using his influence that he obtained in public office to try to help get paid $1.6 million."
