Newt Gingrich on Friday claimed that reports about his call to test Muslims in the United States to determine if they believe in sharia law were "misconstrued," posting on Twitter and in a
Facebook Live chat
that there were "amazing distortions" of his
Fox News interview.
On Thursday night, in the hours after the attack on Nice, Gingrich told Sean Hannity that "we should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in sharia, they should be deported. Sharia is incompatible with Western civilization."
But on Friday, as news spread about his comments to Hannity, Gingrich struck back, tweeting:
When he got onto his Facebook live chat, Gingrich didn't walk back his comments to Hannity, but rather said they were misconstrued and that the media had overreacted.
"The news media went into a hysteria overnight trying to grossly exaggerate what i was saying," Gingrich said in the live chat, explaining that it is acceptable for a practicing Muslim who is an American to believe deeply in his or her faith but be loyal to the United States and support the Constitution.
And if that happens, "you should have your rights totally, completely protected in the Constitution."
Gingrich went live on Facebook about an hour after Donald Trump made it official that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, not himself or New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, would become his running mate.
In his live chat, Gingrich explained that the nation has to recognize it's in a "real war with people who would destroy our civilization," and that people are being recruited to fight that war.
"We have the right to protect our civilization and the United States," Gingrich said. "We have an obligation to design a system that preempts murdering American citizens, not a system that explains it after it happens. "
Gingrich called for three different levels of surveillance, one for citizens, one for people coming in illegally, and another for people who are not yet citizens.
The most recent killings in the United States, in Orlando and San Bernardino, were carried out by American citizens, he pointed out and "we have to confront the fact in the age of the Internet we are seeing people radicalized that are American citizens."
And had people like Orlando shooter Omar Mateen been actively monitored, said Gingrich, officials would have known to arrest him when he went to purchase guns.
"I believe if we're at war, then we have an obligation that the state operates in a way that keeps us from being killed," Gingrich said. "We need to set up rules what Americans can and can't do."
And with people who are here conditionally, "if you're law abiding, supportive of the Constitution, you shouldn't have anything to worry about," Gingrich said.
When there are unvetted foreigners, he also said, "like the Syrian refugees President [Barack] Obama and Hillary Clinton are eager to bring in," the United States has "every right' to screen such people, Gingrich said.
In Europe, where refugees refuse to assimilate, there are large "no-go" zones, he pointed out.
"Those sections are lost to France," said Gingrich. "They are no longer French territory . . . we have to be clear. Yes, you can come, but you must be willing to assimilate."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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