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Tuesday, Mar 29, 2011 1:52 PM UTC

Newt fears Islamist-atheist America

Gingrich sees U.S. becoming "a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists"

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Topics: 2012 Elections, War Room,

Newt fears Islamist-atheist AmericaFormer House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during the Conservative Principles Conference Saturday, March 26, 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)(Credit: AP)

Friends don’t let friends mix talking points.

Newt Gingrich, scourge of both secular atheists and radical Islamists, gave a speech to evangelicals in Texas Sunday night in which he envisioned a future America dominated by atheists and radical Muslims at the same time.

Politico reports:

“I have two grandchildren — Maggie is 11, Robert is 9,” Gingrich said at Cornerstone Church here. “I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they’re my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American.”

Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler tells me via email that Gingrich misspoke. “‘Or’ should have come before the word ‘potentially,’” he writes.

Gingrich has produced documentaries about both the secular atheist threat (“Rediscovering God in America”) as well as the radical Muslim threat (“America at Risk”), but usually he talks about them separately.

Justin Elliott is a reporter for ProPublica. You can follow him on Twitter @ElliottJustin More Justin Elliott.

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