GOP Civil War: Limbaugh Lashes Out at Gingrich

Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress at 5:19 AM on March 10, 2009.

This past Sunday on Meet the Press, former House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich took a shot at Rush Limbaugh, saying that anyone who doesn’t want President Obama to succeed is “irrational.” Today, Limbaugh responded on his radio show.

“You know, I’m frankly getting tired of talking about Newt,” Limbaugh began. “I mean, it’s a pointless exercise.” He then ripped Gingrich for being a typical “fly-by-night,” finger-in-the-wind politician who can’t be trusted:

They are fly-by-night operators, and most of them stand for nothing until they see a poll about what the American people want, and then they go out and try to say one way or another what the American people want while trying to falsely hold onto an ideology at the same time — and you can’t count on them. You can’t depend on them. They will sell you out; they will throw you overboard to save themselves, faster than anything. And they’ll use you on their way up as often as they can at the same time.

Limbaugh claimed that Gingrich is simply jealous of his influence. “I know that Newt would give his whatever to have what I’ve got,” he said. “So would any of these other critics of mine. … Newt Gingrich wishes they were running TV ads against him. But they’re running TV ads against me. So I love it. I’m up for it.”

Listen here:

Gingrich is looking “seriously” at a 2012 run for the presidency. How far can Newt get if the leader of the Republican Party won’t give him his blessing?

Tagged as: limbaugh, gingrich

Faiz Shakir is the Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Editor of ThinkProgress.org and The Progress Report.