Newt Gingrich Starts Crying During Iowa Speech

GOP Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich began crying during an Iowa campaign stop on Thursday when he was asked a question about his mother during a town hall forum full of mostly moms.

Speaking to the audience Newt said:

“Well, first of all you’ll get me all teary-eyed. Callista will tell you, I get teary-eyed every time we sing Christmas carols.”

Kit Gingrich died in 2003 at the young age 77 and as he spoke about his mother he chocked out a few hard to hear words and then said “Excuse Me” before righting himself with a joke.

“My mother sang in the choir. She loved singing in the choir,” he said. “And I don’t know if I should admit this, but when I was very young, she made me sing in the choir.”

Gingrich then broke down again as he explained his moms decline in health:

“I identify my mother with, uh, being happy, loving life, having a sense of joy in her friends,” he said. “But what she introduced me to is, late in her life, she ended up in a long-term care facility. She had bipolar disease and depression, and she gradually acquired some physical ailments.”

“And that introduced me to the whole issue of quality long-term care,” he said. “My whole emphasis on brain science comes in directly from dealing with — um.”

Finally Gingrich began to talk about real policy situations that affect real families like his own.

I personally find it comforting to know our politicians have the ability to show emotions anymore, at the same time a breakdown during international talks because the word “mom” comes up wouldn’t necessarily be the most presidential type response I would want to see.

What do you think about Newt Gingrich’s breakdown, was it a benefit or a hindrance to his campaign?

[Image via Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com]