Defending Trump's “lynching” remark, Fox’s Newt Gingrich tells Whoopi Goldberg to put herself in Trump's shoes
On The View, Gingrich says “most of the early American movies on lynching were about lynching white people”
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From the October 22 edition of ABC’s The View
WHOOPI GOLDBERG (CO-HOST): Let's start with this because before we went on the air this morning, you-know-who in the White House continued his rant against impeachment hearings but he's not calling it a witch hunt anymore. He's tweeted all Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here, a lynching. Well, it's a word that nobody, you know, wants to hear. This was not a good choice of words for him. Do you think?
NEWT GINGRICH (GUEST CO-HOST): Well, it's exactly the same term that Clarence Thomas used when he said he was guilty of a white collar lynching.
GOLDBERG: Right but was it right then?
GINGRICH: I think it was right then, sure. I mean, I think -- look, put yourself -- this is really a big leap but put yourself for a second in Trump's shoes, okay? You got beaten up for a --
SONNY HOSTIN (CO-HOST): That is a big leap.
GINGRICH: You got beaten up for over two years with the Mueller thing. You start to relax. All of a sudden there's this whole new wave of things and I think part of what you have is a guy here who's just really deeply frustrated that no matter where he turns, you know, the fight keeps going on.
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HOSTIN: You mentioned Clarence Thomas. By my last count, he's a black man using it. I don't think he should have used it there either but --
GINGRICH: Okay, all right, I'm going to be very politically incorrect. Most of the early American movies on lynching were about lynching white people. One of the largest lynchings of the 19th century was Italians.
GOLDBERG: Yes.
GINGRICH: So there is a tradition here. It's not an automatically, only black experience.
GOLDBERG: Yes, but 90% of the people sitting here -- you know it may not be totally a black experience but we're kind of the only folks that didn't come out from under the experience that was put on us, as you well know. Italian folks have, you know, were allowed and welcomed to work in ways that we were not, but my point is --
HOSTIN: It's a uniquely black experience in this country.
GINGRICH: No, it's not. Those Italians were lynched here.
HOSTIN: It's a different experience for black folks in this country.