Posted on 08/21/2010 6:10:28 AM PDT by markomalley
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) will not be addressing a protest of the proposed mosque in lower Manhattan on the anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
The organizers of the rally, Stop Islamization of America and Freedom Defense Initiative, announced Gingrich as one of the event’s confirmed speakers on the Web last weekend.
On Monday, Gingrich launched himself into the spotlight of the debate on national television with controversial comments that brought a slew of criticism from fellow Republicans.
But a spokesman for Gingrich, a possible 2012 presidential candidate, told The Hill that the former leader of the House had never confirmed his appearance. Instead, one of Gingrich’s staff had agreed to send a video message from him to be shown at the Sept. 11 rally.
That has since been canceled.
“The confusion is at least partially our fault,” said Joe DeSantis, a spokesman for Gingrich. “A staff member mistakenly promised a video message, though not an appearance. However, we are not sending a video. We informed them earlier this week.”
DeSantis did not comment on why Gingrich was no longer planning to send a video message to the rally, and attempts to contact the organizers of the rally were unsuccessful.
Other speakers listed include controversial Dutch parliamentarian and right-wing party leader Geert Wilders, an avowed critic of Islam and Muslim immigration and integration issues in Europe, who last year was banned from entering Britain on the argument that his presence would create public safety problems.
The rally’s organizers also listed Rep. Peter King (N.Y.), the top House Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, as being “invited” on the bill of confirmed speakers.
A spokesman for King, who opposes construction of the mosque two blocks from Ground Zero, said that the lawmaker was not planning to attend, however, adding that he “will have so many 9/11 commemorations in his district” to attend on Sept. 11.
King was one of several conservative figures to blast Gingrich for his comments made in an interview on Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
Gingrich said the construction of the Islamic center near Ground Zero was not about community outreach, but "trying to make a case about supremacy."
"Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington," Gingrich said. "We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor."
Joe Scarborough, a former House Republican and host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, described Gingrich’s remark as "madness.” And conservative commentator Pat Buchanan, a former presidential candidate, said “bringing the Nazis into the argument is always absurd in American politics.” Buchanan also suggested that Gingrich was trying to attract national attention to himself for a 2012 presidential bid.
The controversy over the proposed Islamic center near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks boiled over after President Obama spoke last week in favor of the mosque organizers’ right to religious freedom, seen by many as an endorsement of the project.
In the week since, nearly every major politician has weighed in on the debate, with an overwhelming number of Republicans, including House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), criticizing Obama’s comments and stating their opposition to the mosque’s location. Even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he respected freedom of religion but felt that the mosque should be built elsewhere; the president said they could agree to disagree.
Organizers of next month’s protest hope to capitalize on the debate that has consumed the congressional recess, organizing caravans from across America to come to the 9/11 rally.
Wilders' website touts his appearance and the advertised attendance of Gingrich as "two eagles" who together can capture the mainstream media's attention on the mosque controversy. "Then there is speculation about Gingrich making a possible 2012 run for the GOP Presidential nomination," an Aug. 6 release on the site states. "It is not lost on many that Gingrich has come out in favor of national anti-Sharia legislation."
Wilders generated controversy on Capitol Hill last year when he screened his documentary film “Fitna” at the invitation of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.). The short film shows verses of the Koran interspersed with extreme acts of violence, including the hijacked planes flying into the World Trade Center.
The Dutch politician's outspoken criticism of Islam has generated scores of death threats over the years and he lives under 24-hour security protection. The British government prohibited him from entering the country in February 2009, a ban later overturned following an appeal by Wilders. And the politician is currently on trial on hate-speech charges in the Netherlands, where he has called the Koran a "fascist book."
"I will go to New York and say what I want there,” Wilders told Dutch media. “Nobody will stop me. No mosque at Ground Zero!”
I have lost almost all respect for Gingrich.
I really do not want to see him run in 2012, but I know that his ego will make him run.
Geert Wilders is awesome. Imam Obama’s ObamaCare is the first Islamic Jizya tax on Americans. Muslims are exempt from ObamaCare.
The Jizya or tax is where non-muslims are taxed by Muslims.
So much for the “courage of his convictions.”
Morning Joe has gone so native. He was a GOP congressman from Pensacola. He was considered a conservative and talked a good line. He now dances with wolves. (Geesh, I hope that’s not racist.)
Gingrich is correct. He should not be running away from this statement.
Rino’s jumping ship
Alinsky tactics strike again.
It’s Gingrich who is the radical now — not the mosque or Obama.
When will our side learn?
Run around in circles right in the middle, Newt.
Don’t dare get too close to one edge of the circle.
One of the “former Bush advisors” obviously got to him...
Newt is right...they will not let a church be built in their country
Yep. Not like we needed another example, though.....
Now you’re blaming Bush?
This old whore will never get my vote.
Newt neutered himself.
Classic Gingrich. Ugh.
Gingrich-a man of limitless disappointment.
Geez. Just when I was trying to like him again.
And quite frankly, it was Bush and his people who first promoted the "Religion of Peace" nonsense. Was it not?
Ex-Bush advisers urge Republicans to soften criticism of mosque near Ground Zero
Newt always finds a reason not to fight. He’ll garner attention with a feint then retire again to obscurity.
What a waste.
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