URBANDALE, Iowa — Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich scolded former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Saturday for employing surrogates and negative ads to attack Gingrich’s character and legislative record.
“There’s a big difference, and everybody knows it, between negative attack ads… and legitimate comparisons,” Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, told a crowd of roughly 150 in Urbandale, Iowa. “I will not engage in negative ads we’re not going to engage in tearing people down.”
Gingrich’s remarks were aimed at Romney, though he did not specifically name the candidate, after the Romney campaign launched an offensive this week using TV and web ads, as well as campaign surrogates, calling into question Gingrich’s fitness for office.
Romney has distanced himself from some of the attacks in recent days, saying he can’t control what his surrogates say. Romney also said he is not responsible for negative ads launched by Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney “super PAC” that can raise unlimited amounts of money as long as it does not coordinate with Romney’s campaign.
“If anybody does go out and create any kind of super PAC using my name — if they run any negative ads, we will attack them and we will encourage people to give them no money,” Gingrich said. “See we have this weird super PAC business because we have this totally Byzantine federal election law. Having said that, I will also tell you none of my surrogates will be encouraged to go out and attack anyone.”
Gingrich said he plans to focus his attacks on President Obama.
