I Don't Know What's Happened to John McCain, But I Find This Very Sad' -- Find Out Who Said This and Why

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 13: Newt Gingrich attends TIME's Person of the Year panel on November 13, 2012 in New York City. Credit: Getty Images for TIME

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Friday joined a chorus of critics and ripped Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for attacking Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and the senators who stood beside him during Wednesday's filibuster.

"I don't know what's happened to John McCain, but I find this very sad," Gingrich told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

When asked whose side he was on, "the McCains or the Rand Pauls," Gingrinch said he was "really disappointed in John McCain."

"I'm very saddened by it," he added. "McCain, in his younger years, was a great maverick. He took on his party all the time."

He continued: "The idea that he’s now lecturing the next generation because they have the guts to stand up, which is--I would have thought John McCain we do have applauded them and he would have said, I may not agree with you in detail, but I’m proud of the fact that you’re standing up for your beliefs, you’re fighting."

After proclaiming that Paul is "right" in this instance, Gingrich said the Kentucky senator was correct to question the Justice Department's initial claim that the federal government could use drone strikes on American citizens inside the U.S. with no due process.

"If our Constitution means anything, it means that your government can’t capriciously kill you without the rule of law. And it was very clear from the attorney general’s earlier letters that they were reserving the right-- remember, we’re not talking about a combatant engaged in fighting against the US. The minute you do that, you lose all your rights," Gingrich said.

Taking one more shot at McCain, Gingrich asked: "Does he know nothing of history?"

Watch the segment via CNN/Mediaite below:

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