Limbaugh Lauds Gingrich As “A Victim” For Asking Second Wife For Open Marriage

Rush Limbaugh, the de facto head of the Republican Party, who has been married four times, today lauded Newt Gingrich as “a victim” for asking his second wife to have an “open marriage” before he divorced her, after she told him she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, after he admitted to cheating on her for years. Gingrich, the first Speaker of the House ever to be disciplined for ethics violations. was forced to resign amid both ethics issues and the failed “Contract with America,” is a twice-divorced, thrice-married serial adulterer.

As we reported earlier today, Marianne Gingrich, Newt Gingrich’s second wife, gave an interview to ABC News which will air late tonight, after the GOP presidential debate.

Think Progress reports that Limbaugh, on his radio program said, “I don’t understand why the media’s pretending to be so upset” about Gingrich’s behavior with his ex, Marianne.

Limbaugh went on to read a “great note” from a “good friend of mine,” which posits that Newt and not Marianne — whom Gingirch left shortly after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis — is the real “victim” here. Moreover, the fact that Gingrich asked for “permission” to cheat on his wife is “a mark of character, in my book,” Limbaugh continued:

LIMBAUGH: I got a great note from a friend of mine. “So Newt wanted an open marriage. BFD. At least he asked his wife for permission instead of cheating on her. That’s a mark of character, in my book. Newt’s a victim. We all are. Ours is the horniest generation.” […] That’s from a good friend of mine, “Newt’s slogan ought to, ‘Hell, yes, I wanted it.’” (laughing) I’m sharing with you how some people are reacting to this.

Last year, Gingrich blamed his multiple affairs and multiple broken marriages on the stress of the job and his “passion” for the country.

“There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate,” said the self-proclaimed repentant Roman Catholic convert said in a 2011 interview with CBN.

And earlier last year, Gingrich claimed, “There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate.”

Journalist and former Bush speechwriter David Frum last year tried to examine “Newt’s Family Values Problem,” writing, “It’s not the infidelity. It’s the arrogance, hypocrisy, and – most horrifying to women voters – the cruelty,” and added, “Anyone can dump one sick wife. Gingrich dumped two.”