What comes to your mind when you hear the following name: Newt Gingrich?
A number of things might come to your mind, depending on your ideology. For MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, it’s “car bomber.”
“He looks like a car bomber,” Matthews said on Wednesday’s edition of his show “Hardball.” “He looks like a car bomber, Clarence. He looks like a car bomber. He has that crazy Mestophalian grin of his. He looks like he loves torturing. Look at the guy. I mean, this is not the face of a president.”
The Chicago Tribune’s Clarence Page had a drastically different and much less heinous view of the former House speaker, telling Matthews Gingrich was affable and willing to provide material to members of the media.
“We in the media love Newt though because he’s just a sound bite machine,” Page said. “You know and he’s very affable. He just can’t stop talking and saying what’s on his mind, which we in the media love. There’s not a media primary out there, but he would win it.”
But despite Page’s rationale, Matthews said he didn’t think people liked Gingrich and probably wouldn’t vote for him.
“You know this car bomber reference is very clear to me,” Matthews said. “I have this notion of a guy. It’s not a car bomber, but this guy, it’s kind of like he loves the attack. It’s kind of like he gets a thrill, Clarence, from going for the opponents midsection and hitting him so hard and getting delight in the attack itself.”
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