Watch: Gingrich Tells Gay Iowa Voters Gays Should Vote For Obama (Video)
Newt Gingrich, as we reported this morning, told a gay Iowa voter that gays should vote for Obama, especially if same-sex marriage equality is at all important to them.
READ:Â Gingrich: Gay Republicans, Don’t Vote For Me, Vote For Obama
We finally obtained the video, below, in which you can clearly see Gingrich talking with a fellow University professor, and gay Iowan, Scott Arnold.
Arnold politely asks the former Speaker of the House how he plans to “engage gay Americans,” and Gingrich, flippantly, and condescendingly says, “I won’t get their support.”
Arnold presses him, and asks, “what if it [same-sex marriage equality] is their biggest issue?” Gingrich responds, again, “then I won’t get their support.”
“How do we engage you, collectively?,” Arnold, graciously asks. Gingrich responds, again, flippantly, and condescendingly, “well, you engage in every topic except that.”
“Except the one that’s, most important?,” Arnold asks.
“Well, if that’s what’s most important for you then you should be for Obama,” Gingrich responds.
As we reported today, after Gingrich walked off, Arnold told reporters, “I asked him if he’s elected, how does he plan to engage gay Americans. How are we to support him? And he told me to support Obama,†according to a report in the Des Moines Register. “It doesn’t inspire hope at all. And if that’s what he’s trying to do and that’s what he’s trying to say, that this is a collective effort if he’s elected president, yet he tells me to support the other side?â€
Herein lies the important issue. Same-sex marriage, while not a defining issue for most in the LGBT community, is the indicator of how most LGBT voters will vote. Gingrich has done himself real harm here, by indicating he is not interested in courting the vote of the LGBT community. He’s also paved the way for Obama to stand out and support marriage equality.
Now, we just have to ask, will he?
http://videos.mediaite.com/embed/player/?content=LRTB9N3QSDJJQ80Z&content_type=content_item&layout=&playlist_cid=&media_type=video&widget_type_cid=svp&read_more=1
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