House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) continued to rain on Newt Gingrich's presidential ambitions Tuesday, saying bluntly that he "will never" win the White House.
During an interview on CNN, host John King asked Pelosi for her thoughts on the state of the GOP primary, which has showed Gingrich, fresh off a stunning victory in the South Carolina primary, continuing to rise going into next week's contest in Florida.
"Let me just say this. That will never happen," Pelosi responded, speaking of a potential Gingrich presidency. "He's not going to be president of the United States. That's not going to happen. Let me just make my prediction and stand by it. It isn't going to happen."
Pressed by King on why she was so certain, Pelosi appeared to suggest that she was aware of some element of Gingrich's past that would effectively disqualify him from the race.
"There is something I know," she said. "The Republicans, if they choose to nominate him, that's their prerogative. I don't even think that's going to happen."
Gingrich responded Wednesday, countering this claim in an interview with the "America's Morning News" radio program.
"As my campaign has gotten stronger, the attacks have become more hysterical and more factually incorrect," he said. "I have no idea what she's talking about, I don't think she has any idea what she's talking about. But bring it on."
Pelosi, who served on the ethics committee that investigated Gingrich toward the end of his speakership, has frequently hinted that she has dirt on her one-time colleague that could be seriously damaging.
"One of these days we'll have a conversation about Newt Gingrich," she said late last year. "I know a lot about him. I served on the investigative committee that investigated him, four of us locked in a room in an undisclosed location for a year. A thousand pages of his stuff."
And while Pelosi has not hesitated to seize an opportunity to jab at Gingrich for their past interaction, he's been just as quick to retaliate.
"Well, if she suggested that she's going to use material that she developed when she was on the ethics committee, that is a fundamental violation of the rules of the House and I would hope that members would immediately file charges against her the second she does it," he said in response to Pelosi's comments about her knowledge of his ethics probe. "I think it shows you how capriciously political that committee was when she was on it."
As tensions between the two continue to boil, it's becoming increasing clear that they've come a long way since sitting down together on a couch in front of the Capitol to film an ad about climate change.
UPDATE:
In a response, Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill says Pelosi's suggestion that Gingrich won't be president is based on her knowledge of publicly available information.
"The 'something' Leader Pelosi knows is that Newt Gingrich will not be President of the United States. She made that clear last night.
"Leader Pelosi previously made a reference to the extensive amount of information that is in the public record, including the comprehensive committee report with which the public may not be fully aware."