James Clyburn: Newt Gingrich Won With 'Familiar' Rhetoric
Jan. 22, 2012, 10:29 a.m.
House Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn said Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary by using language that people are familiar with here in the South.
In an interview on CNNs State of the Union today, the South Carolina Democrat compared Gingrichs description of Barack Obama as the food-stamp president to Ronald Reagans criticism of welfare queens.
People know what that means, he said.
Still, Clyburn was careful not to say that he thinks Gingrich is racist, although he seemed to say some voters are.
I never used that word, and I never call anybody anything that resembles that, he said. Im saying that hes appealing to an element in his party that will see President Obama as different from all other presidents that weve had. Theres only one thing that makes him different.
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