Tom Coburn Calls Newt Gingrich's Leadership 'Lacking'

Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn had some harsh words for Former Speaker of the House and current GOP presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich on Fox News Sunday this weekend. When asked by Chris Wallace about his comments on C-SPAN's morning call-in show, Washington Journal, the Senator did not back down from his previous statement that Gingrich was not someone who could bring the country together and added that he found his leadership "lacking often times."

I'd call that the understatement of the year since it was Gingrich who is responsible for a good deal of the nastiness and gridlock we see from our politicians today. Needless to say, Gingrich won't be looking to Coburn for an endorsement were he actually to win the Republican nomination. WALLACE: Let me, Senator Coburn, switch topic. I want to ask you about one last political issue. You served with Newt Gingrich in the House and you say that he was brilliant. But earlier this year, you were asked about whether or not he could be a good president and you raised questions about that. Let's watch. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) COBURN: We need somebody whose eye is critical but is not harsh in their -- in their manner. And I don't mean to say he's necessarily harsh. But I'm looking for a leader that can bring us together. (END VIDEO CLIP) WALLACE: As Speaker Gingrich takes the lead in the Republican race, do you still have those questions about his fitness to be president? COBURN: Chris, there is a lot of candidates out there. I'm not inclined to be a supporter of Newt Gingrich, having served under him for four years and experienced personally his leadership. WALLACE: Why is that? COBURN: Because I found it lacking often times. WALLACE: I don't want to pull teeth, but if you could just explain why. I think it's an important thing. People want to know what you think. COBURN: Well, I -- you know, the thing is, there's all types of leaders. Leaders that instill confidence. Leaders that are somewhat abrupt and brisk. Leaders that have one standard for the people that they are leading and a different standard for themselves. I just found his leadership lacking and I'm not going to go into greater detail in that. And I think if you were poll the gang -- the group of people that came in Congress in 1994, in which he did a wonderful job in organizing that, he's brilliant, he has a lot of positives. But I still -- it would be -- I will have difficulty supporting him as president of the United States. WALLACE: We're going to have to leave it there.

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News & Politics

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• Chris Wallace
• Fox News Sunday
• GOP primary
• Newt Gingrich
• Tom Coburn