The shoe bomber Richard Reid is a British citizen of British & Jamaican descent. He is not an American and Newt Gingrich new. He also new his lie would likely be caught. He also knows that FoxNews will likely play only the portion of the clip where he calls him an American and that Fox’s listeners do no further research.
That said, the GOP is trying to create a narrative on Obama’s handling of terrorism as less than strong to work on American’s innate fear with the expectation that they will go Republican for protection. They need this since they have no real answers to the economy or healthcare reform.
That said, it is imperative to note that Republicans have never been better at keeping the nations safe. All leader irrespective of party ultimately wants to keep Americans safe. Republicans simply use the subject as a tool to attempt to win elections. In that regard it is worth noting that more terrorism deaths have occurred under Republicans than Democrats. That is just a fact. It does not mean that either party is better but it definitely indicates that Republicans have no right to make that assumption.
