Romney Campaign Press Release - Rep. Jason Chaffetz: Gingrich is a "Convenient Conservative"

"I think I've got some conservative credentials and I am not ceding the ground to Newt Gingrich as a conservative. In fact, I find that Mr. Gingrich—with all due respect—is an unreliable conservative. In fact, I think he's a convenient conservative. The things we're fighting for in this country to get us back to our financial path, I find, in many ways, Speaker Gingrich helped create the problem." — Rep. Jason Chaffetz

Congressman Jason Chaffetz

"Newt Gingrich Is An Unreliable Conservative" Press Conference Call

January 30, 2012

Click here to Listen to the Entire Call

Highlights From the "Newt Gingrich is an Unreliable Conservative" Press Conference Call:

CHAFFETZ: "Hey, thanks everybody. I appreciate it. I'm headed down to Panama City. Tea Party Express is doing some rallies there, so I'm going to speak on behalf of Governor Romney. Just as background, I was elected in 2008. I'm not—you know, is Washington DC in a mess? Absolutely.  I didn't create this mess but I am here to help clean it up. And as one of the new, fresh conservatives—and by the way, Heritage Action ranked me the second most conservative person in the House. American Conservative Union has me at one hundred percent conservative. I think I've got some conservative credentials and I am not ceding the ground to Newt Gingrich as a conservative. In fact, I find that Mr. Gingrich—with all due respect—is an unreliable conservative. In fact, I think he's a convenient conservative. The things that we're fighting for in this country to get us back to our financial path, I find, in many ways, Speaker Gingrich helped create the problem. I think one of the stunning things—it's out new in the last—I just heard about it in the last 24 hours—is this audiotape I hope you hear the Speaker Gingrich talking about healthcare and the need for an individual mandate. This was in May 2009. This wasn't 20 years ago. But of all the rhetorical barbs Speaker Gingrich has thrown at Governor Romney, this certainly leads one to believe that he's fairly hypocritical on this issue. He was advocating an individual mandate and at the national level—something that Mitt Romney has never done. And for conservatives to suggest that Newt Gingrich is the more conservative on this issue, I beg to differ. Please listen to that audio and we'll point you in that direction. I think it will be going viral here as people listen and Newt Gingrich, in his own words, advocated for a national healthcare plan—that it was more open and transparent than Hillarycare and he was right in the midst of helping to develop that and then advocating for an individual mandate at the national level. I was also on the Budget Committee—I'm still on the Budget Committee. We led out with Paul Ryan, when we produced a budget last year. The last person that I expected to go out and fight us on that budget was Newt Gingrich. And yet, he did. As you all know, he advocated that the budget we put out was 'right-wing social engineering.' It couldn't be further from the truth. But we knew were going to take shots from the left. We knew the Democrats would take shots at our budget. But I didn't expect Speaker Gingrich to be one of those using the words of the left and the arguments of the left to try and fight us on the budget. Earmarks, as you know, earmarks under Newt Gingrich more than doubled. They were the political candy handed out to try to persuade members to vote on certain bills. And when I came to Congress, I advocated that we were going to get rid of earmarks. We were successful at doing that with the good work of Jeff Flake and others. Jeff Flake, by the way, having endorsed Mitt Romney. And fighting back earmarks. They were the political tool to get people to do what they wanted to do and they were a political ploy that Speaker Gingrich in doubling of those earmarks in using the political candy to push votes. And then thirdly, Fannie and Freddie, if there is one major financial fiasco that we're dealing with, it's Fannie and Freddie. I still don't think that the Speaker has fully answered that question. What, $25,000 a month, to be their historian, nobody is buying that. So these are just some of the issues that are out there but let me just conclude on this and I'm happy to answer any questions. In principle, I think Speaker Gingrich's candidacy is flawed. We, what unites Republicans is their deep desire to beat Barack Obama. Absolutely, we're united in doing that. But I do believe that the very best way to do that is to get somebody from outside of Washington DC to make the case that conservatives, the conservative case, that the principles and the direction that Barack Obama is taking us is wrong. The fundamental flaw in Speaker Gingrich's comments is that he tries to portray himself as an outsider. He's not an outsider. He's the consummate insider. You just look at his record and the fact that he's been there for, look, I've been there for almost 36 months, he's been there for almost 36 years. And I want an outsider. I believe that. But I don't buy this paint job that he puts on to the public to say that he's the outsider and he's the best one to take on Barack Obama. There is no poll that I've ever seen that suggests that Gingrich would do better than Romney in a head-to-head matchup with Barack Obama. It just... because his argument is fundamentally flawed. It does take an outsider to do it, but Speaker Gingrich is part of the problem not part of the solution."