Gingrich's 'Scary' Bash Against Islam Reverberating

Newt Gingrich's Islamaphobic soundbite in Monday’s GOP debate has given pundits and bloggers something to buzz about. When Herman Cain was asked about his earlier comments that he wouldn’t allow a Muslim in his administration, or that they should take an extra loyalty oath, Gingrich jumped in with an anecdote about the Times Square bomber, Think Progress notes. Asked why he’d violated his oath to the US, the bomber, in Newt’s telling, replied, “You’re my enemy. I lied.”

“If you’re not prepared to be loyal to the United States, you will not serve in my administration, period,” Newt continued. “We did this in dealing with the Nazis and we did this in dealing with the communists.” Muslim groups were outraged, and political analysts were perplexed. “Either he is doing this for political purposes to distract people from a campaign in disarray, which is bad, or he actually believes it, which is scary,” ex-Bush strategist Matthew Dowd tells ABC. (More Newt Gingrich stories.)