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Newt Gingrich Was Dragged For Complaining That Georgia Is Making It Easier To Vote, Thus Making It Difficult For Republicans To Win

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Republicans have been saying the quiet part out loud for much of the Donald Trump presidency, as though his brash, bull-in-a-china-shop approach freed them, making it okay to say some more questionable things they traditionally tried to obscure. That’s gone double for the 2020 election. Back in April, when it first became clear that the pandemic would necessitate a dramatic rise in mail-in ballots to safely hold an election, Trump himself came right out and blasted the quiet part, saying that if everyone mail-in voted — i.e., if it was easier, or at least not hard, for everyone to do their civic duty — “you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.” Half a year later, he lost re-election to Joe Biden.

Now Newt Gingrich is effectively repeating the president’s gaffe. The former House Speaker — one of the Clinton era’s most formidable Republican boogeyman, who occasionally makes waves these days as a commentator — took to Twitter Sunday to blast the efforts in Georgia to make voting in the upcoming pair of Senate runoff elections easier and less dangerous.

“Why is Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger working so hard to add drop boxes and take other steps to make it harder for Republicans to win,” Gingrich wrote. “Is he really that intimidated by Stacey Abrams?”

As with Trump’s remarkable statement back in April, it’s a marvel of undisguised villainy, unambiguously stating that it’s “harder for Republicans to win” when it’s easier to vote. After all, those voting for Republican candidates could use those drop boxes, too. Then there’s the dog whistle business about Stacey Abrams, the former candidate for governor in Georgia who helped turn out the vote in November and is doing the same thing for the runoff election on January 5.

But most people glommed onto the first part — the one where Newt admitted that when more Americans vote, Republicans tend to lose.

Others brought up Newt’s checkered past, too.

Georgia’s Senate run-off happens on January 5. It’s been a rocky road to get there; just last week there were two key debates — one where the Republican incumbent didn’t even show up, another where the Republican incumbent inspired a deadly drinking game.