Newt Gingrich: Hillary Clinton can't be president because she doesn't drive

“Here’s a woman whose effort to get back in touch with us doesn’t involve driving across America"

Published January 28, 2014 2:51PM (EST)

Newt Gingrich                    (AP/Carolyn Kaster)
Newt Gingrich (AP/Carolyn Kaster)

New Gingrich believes Hillary Clinton should not be president because she no longer drives a car.

Presidents famously do a lot of driving, so Gingrich has a point. (Just kidding, he does not have a point.)

Gingrich made the comment in an effort to frame Clinton as out of touch with regular people. Gingrich considers himself -- a wealthy television host and many-times-over failed presidential candidate -- one of these regular people.

“Here’s a woman whose effort to get back in touch with us doesn’t involve driving across America -- or even driving to the grocery store,” he said on CNN Monday night. “It’s being chauffeured to the national auto dealers convention to tell them, quote, ‘I wish I could drive one of your cars’?”

Gingrich even proposed a slogan, "Keep Hillary off the road, vote Hillary for president."

After taking Clinton's self-deprecating humor and turning it into some kind of indicator about her ability to lead, he accused her of "relating to foreigners" because she noted during her appearance at the National Auto Dealers Association that she understands how the rest of the world views the United States because of her time as secretary of state.

Watch Gingrich bloviate here:


By Katie McDonough

Katie McDonough is Salon's politics writer, focusing on gender, sexuality and reproductive justice. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com.

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