This morning, Matt Corley flagged Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) pushing back against Rush Limbaugh’s far-right, dead-ender ideology and tactics. Could a new day be dawning? Nope, Gingrey was just forced into a humiliating climb-down:
Turns out that Gingrey’s measured remarks provoked such a violent outcry that he has now been forced to apologize.
“Because of the high volume of phone calls and correspondence received by my office since the Politico article ran, I wanted to take a moment to speak directly to grassroots conservatives,” Gingrey said in a new statement released by his office. “Let me assure you, I am one of you.”
“I never told Rush to back off,” Gingrey continued. “I regret and apologize for the fact that my comments have offended and upset my fellow conservatives — that was not my intent … Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Newt Gingrich, and other conservative giants are the voices of the conservative movement’s conscience.”
Steve Benen observes “The Republican Party is suffering something of a leadership vacuum. It’s pretty obvious who’s calling the shots.” It’s quite remarkable how much power right-wing talk radio has over conservative politicians’ approach to legislation.
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