Gingrich Tangles With 'Meet the Press' Panel Over 'Extreme' Presidential Platforms

Former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich tangled with a "Meet the Press" panel Sunday over the commonly-accepted assertion that the Republicans have a more "extreme" position on social issues than Democrats.

Gingrich argued that when stripped of political rhetoric and presented as the basic facts, more people are inclined to agree with Republicans.

"The president of United States voted three times to protect the right of doctors to kill babies who came out of abortion still alive," Gingrich noted, adding:  "The vast majority of women do not believe the taxpayers should pay to abort a child in the eighth or ninth month."

Watch the entire exchange, which begins with a discussion of Todd Akin's widely-condemned "legitimate rape" comments (skip to around 5:30):

After noting that Biden can claim Romney wants to put African-Americans in "chains" without notable recrimination from the mainstream media, Gingrich said:

...the Democratic Party plank on abortion is the most extreme plank in the United States.  The president of United States voted three times to protect the right of doctors to kill babies who came out of abortion still alive.  That plank says tax-paid abortion at any moment of...meaning, partial birth abortion...that’s a 20 percent issue.  The vast majority of women do not believe the taxpayers should pay to abort a child in the eighth or ninth month...

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman replied:

I’m a Planned Parenthood Democrat on-- on-- on the issue of-- of choice.  And I think that that is where the country should be.  That is where many, many women in this country are.  And I’m glad there are people running for the presidency who will defend that position.  Period.  Paragraph.  End it.

After an interruption by David Gregory, Gingrich turned back to Friedman:

...so you think it’s acceptable to have a party committed to tax-paid abortion in the eighth and ninth month?  And you think that’s a sustainable position in the United States?  If the news media spent as much time on the extremism of the Democrats as they spend trying to attack us, you would-- they would not be able to adopt that plank this week.

Friedman retorted: "I do believe that’s a defensible position, but I also believe I’m-- I’m here as a journalist, I’ll let the Democratic Party defend it."

(H/T: Gateway Pundit)