After a rambling and nearly-incoherent speech, Newt Gingrich finally dropped his bid for the Republican nomination and Mitt Romney's campaign issued a predictably benign and "hugs all around" statement about it, saying:
“Newt Gingrich has brought creativity and intellectual vitality to American political life. During the course of this campaign, Newt demonstrated both eloquence and fearlessness in advancing conservative ideas. Although he long ago created an enduring place for himself in American history, I am confident that he will continue to make important contributions to our party and to the life of the nation. Ann and I are proud to call Newt and Callista friends and we look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead as we fight to restore America’s promise.”
This would not be news except that Shepard Smith's reaction to that statement was just classic and delicious. I think he should not be working for a channel who is almost always "weird and creepy," but since he is, I've got to say that this should go down in the annals of classic news anchor reactions:
Politics is weird. And creepy. And now, I know, lacks even the loosest attachment to anything like reality.
The facial expressions are as wonderful as the words. While Newt didn't really sing a full-throated praise of Mittens, he did manage to choke out words to the effect that Mitt was still better than President Obama. Of course, the reason Shep was so taken aback was because of statements during the campaign like these:
Shep's right. Politics is weird. And creepy. At least when you've got candidates worshipping at the foot of Saint Ronnie's statue while trashing each other in the process. Also? They're all creepy.
Courtesy of scarce, here's the full five-minute rant with Smith and Ed Rollins:
