GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Monday defended against recent claims by radio host Glenn Beck that he is a "progressive."
Gingrich was speaking with New Hampshire-based conservative commentator Paul Westcott, who asked him about Beck's recent reproach, in which he concluded that Gingrich was so "progressive" that only racism could explain why Republicans were supporting him over President Obama.
"I don't know," Gingrich responded to the charges, laughing. "It depends on what standard you're using, you know? The fact is that I balanced the budget for four consecutive years. And we did so while cutting taxes and increasing employment so people went back to work, they left welfare, they left food stamps, they left unemployment, they left Medicaid. Who else has a record of that level of achievement? I worked with Reagan in '79, '80. I worked with Reagan for 8 years in defeating the Soviet Empire. I think those are relatively conservative credentials."
Last week, Beck encouraged Republican voters to examine Gingrich's record and judge his political ideology based on the policies he has supported.
"This man is a progressive. He knows he's a progressive. He doesn't have a problem with being a progressive," Beck claimed. "So if you've got a big government progressive [in Gingrich] or a big government progressive in Obama, one in Newt Gingrich, one in Obama, ask yourself this Tea Party. Is it about Obama's race? Because that's what it appears to be to me. If you're against him but you're for this guy, it must be about race."