David Brooks Slams Newt Gingrich: ‘I Wouldn’t Let Him Run a 7-Eleven Let Alone a Country’
New York Times columnist David Brooks Thursday took quite a swing at former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. During a videotaped interview with Time magazine, Brooks said, “I wouldn't let that guy run a 7-Eleven let alone a country” (video follows with transcript and commentary): GILBERT CRUZ, TIME MAGAZINE: People read you because you write about politics. I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions about politics, the first being is Obama beatable in 2012? DAVID BROOKS, NEW YORK TIMES: He’s certainly beatable. The economy is going to be better, but not in great shape. He's got real problems in the Midwest. Those are states that Republicans have done extraordinarily well in, and so I definitely think he’s beatable. I would still give him a slight odds of being reelected, but he’s definitely beatable. CRUZ: What do you think of the GOP field for 2012? BROOKS: I'm not overwhelmed by its quality. Some people are interesting personalities, like Newt Gingrich, but Newt Gingrich is not going to be President. I wouldn't let that guy run a, you know, 7-Eleven, let alone a country. He’s a really interesting guy, no management skills. And, so there are a couple leaders: Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty and Mitch Daniels. I think those are the three. And so I’m not sure there’s a huge number of great candidates, and that’s of the weaknesses that Obama has, the one strength he has is so far what looks like the weakness of the Republican field. In the print version of this Q&A, Brooks said: Haley Barbour's a good governor, but he looks like the kind of guy Michael Moore would cast: Southern guy, heavy guy, was a tobacco lobbyist. I just don't think that's going to fly. Readers are reminded that this is what the Times and its readers consider is a conservative.
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David Brooks Slams Newt Gingrich: ‘I Wouldn’t Let Him Run a 7-Eleven Let Alone a Country’
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on March 10, 2011. Filed under