Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich insulted a Capitol Hill reporter after the journalist asked him to comment on the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“What do you think about the January 6 committee,” Scott Wong, a reporter for NBC News who previously worked at The Hill, asked Gingrich during a press scrum at the Capitol on Thursday.
Gingrich shook his head and ignored Wong, moving on to another reporter in the gaggle.
“You have no thoughts about the committee itself,” the reporter pressed Gingrich, who is helping House Republicans craft and promote messaging ahead of coming elections.
“I think you have a learning disability,” Gingrich said, turning to Wong, who reacted by saying “excuse me?”
“The fact is, I’ve said to you three or four times I don’t talk about it,” the former Speaker said, pointing to his head and telling Wong to “try the phrase … I don’t talk about it.”
Gingrich has in recent years been a staunch defender of former President Trump and his allies in Congress. He has reportedly been asked by the select panel to provide information about his communications with top advisers to Trump.
The Jan. 6 committee will hold its next hearing on Wednesday.