Phil Gingrey walks out on Barack Obama’s prayer address
A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey confirmed this afternoon that the Marietta Republican walked out of President Barack Obama’s address at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, offended by what the congressman said was an injection of political rhetoric into an occasion of non-partisan reflection.
“He was glad that the president attended, but he felt that there were 364 days in a year to give a speech on your policies or campaign rhetoric,” said Gingrey spokeswoman Jen Talaber.
She said Gingrey enjoyed the remarks by the event’s keynote speaker, conservative author Eric Metaxes, who was in South Carolina last month campaigning with GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum.
Here are the opening paragraphs from the Associated Press account of Obama’s remarks:
WASHINGTON — Blending politics and religion, President Barack Obama said his Christian faith is a driving force behind his economic policies, from Wall Street reform to his calls for the wealthy to pay higher taxes.
Obama’s remarks Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast were his most explicit account of how his personal religious beliefs factor into his decision-making on the nation’s pressing problems. The comments came amid election-year criticism from Catholic groups and some Republicans that the president is waging a war on religion following his decision to require church-affiliated institutions to cover free birth control for employees.
Speaking to more than 3,000 people at the annual breakfast, Obama said “faith and values” should play as much as role in tackling the nation’s challenges as sound decision-making and smart policies.
Talaber, the spokeswoman for Gingrey, said the Georgia congressman – a devout Catholic — listened to “several minutes” of Obama’s remarks.
“[Gingrey] said he was disappointed, because he wanted to know what was in the president’s heart, and not just rhetoric,” the spokeswoman said. “So he said that he decided to quietly get up and leave because he felt that it wasn’t the time or the place, and that the president didn’t seem to be aware of the meaning of the breakfast or why so many people came to hear him speak. He was offended by the very tone of the speech.”
Talaber said she didn’t know whether any other members of Congress who followed Gingrey’s example. “He wasn’t trying to rally the troops,” she said.
The AP account backs up one of Gingrey’s points, reporting that the president’s defense of his policies was a “rare injection” of politics into the annual bipartisan event. Here’s the remainder of the piece:
[Obama] said, for example, that his own call for fairness in the tax code — a central tenet of his State of the Union address and his 2012 campaign — is both economically sound and consistent with the teachings of Jesus.
“If I’m willing to give something up as somebody who’s been extraordinarily blessed, and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that’s going to make economic sense,” he said. “But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that ‘for unto whom much is given, much shall be required.’ It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who’ve been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others.”
He also said the Wall Street reform he championed both “makes the economy stronger for everyone” and abides by God’s command to “love thy neighbor as thyself” because it helped people who had been hurt or treated unfairly by financial institutions.
And Obama said he believed in a “biblical call” to care for the poor and to follow “the responsibility we’re given in Proverbs to ‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.’”
The president’s remarks came one day after Mitt Romney, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, created a flap with clumsy comments about the poor.
Romney said wasn’t concerned about the “very poor” because they have a safety net. He also said he wasn’t concerned about the very rich and intended to focus his campaign on the middle class.
“You can focus on the very poor; that’s not my focus,” Romney said.
While the White House said the president’s remarks were not meant to be political, his comments did fit neatly into the Obama campaign’s effort to draw sharp contrasts between the president and Romney.
The former Massachusetts governor is among Republicans who have criticized the president for not exempting religious organizations from a requirement in the 2010 health care law that requires insurers to cover birth control for their employees. Romney said this week that the president was ordering “religious organizations to violate their conscience.”
GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said Obama has “declared war on the Catholic Church,” and House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday the mandate violates the Constitution.
Obama never mentioned the controversy in his remarks Thursday, nor did he reference his Republican rivals by name.
But his broader defense of his policies was a rare interjection of politics into the annual prayer breakfast. The breakfast is organized by bipartisan congressional lawmakers, but speakers often avoid overt political references beyond calling for civility and respect in Washington.
While Obama speaks often about his faith, he prefers to worship in private. He said Thursday that he starts each morning with a brief prayer, then spends time reading scripture. Sometimes, he said, pastors come to the Oval Officer to pray with him, for his family and for the country.
He also described his own religious transformation in deeply personal language Thursday, from growing up in a non-religious home to finding Christ later in his life. He recalled a visit a few years ago with the evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, which ended with the president feeling compelled to pray for the aging Graham.
Obama said when he found himself at that moment not knowing what to say, the Holy Spirit interceded.
“I have fallen on my knees with great regularity since that moment, asking God for guidance not just in my personal life and my Christian walk, but in the life of this nation and in the values that hold us together and keep us strong,” he said.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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710 comments Add your comment
Centrist
February 2nd, 2012
8:14 pm
Change of subject – this one got real old fast.
I-75/I-575 added reversible toll lanes are back on, and much paid by the gas tax. This is what the gas tax is meant for – a user tax. It is the final nail in the outrageously expensive and underused rail boondoggle. The worst part of all this is that it lets Cobb County Commissioner Lee off the hook when he was forced to reverse his rail stance in favor of this option. Maybe voters will still toss him out.
mj lun
February 2nd, 2012
8:19 pm
p gingrey is a disrespectful Punk! Period!
td
February 2nd, 2012
8:22 pm
mj lun
February 2nd, 2012
8:19 pm
p gingrey is a disrespectful Punk! Period!
And by you post it looks like you would know all about being a punk.
td
February 2nd, 2012
8:30 pm
Dirty Dawg
February 2nd, 2012
5:55 pm
Now you know how the conservatives feel every time the messiah and chief opens his mouth and embarrasses all of us. If you my friend do not like Ga. then I promise you no one is stopping you from leaving the state.
No Longer Republican
February 2nd, 2012
8:37 pm
Don’t you just love it when people say President Obama is not a Christian? I think it is quite hilarious when all these self-righteous buffoons do exactly what Jesus said not to do by judging others. You folks have no flippin idea what Jesus stood for or what he was all about. But I do agree 100% that religion and politics do not mix. That is the main reason I quit voting Republican…because the right wing wackos like TD and gang think they have all the answers and want everyone to think, believe and act like them. Guess what…that is not what made our nation great. What made our nation great was that we are all different, but we all love America and work to make it a better place for everyone, not just those who believe in the same religious dogma.
Centrist
February 2nd, 2012
8:37 pm
And yet another subject – “Romney says he ‘misspoke’ when talking about poor”
Reminds me of a movie – from Miss Congeniality
Stan Fields (beauty pageant host): What is the one most important thing our society needs?
Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock): That would be harsher punishment for parole violators, Stan.
[crowd is silent]
Gracie Hart: And world peace!
[crowd cheers ecstatically]
PCGOPExaminer
February 2nd, 2012
8:41 pm
Just proves that Obama is no Christian and never has been in the true sense.
Centrist
February 2nd, 2012
8:52 pm
Back to the second comment on this blog – “Where is the apology for the bogus reported Trump endorsement of Gingrich?”
The AJC is like the weatherman who says tomorrow will be sunny and warm, and we get sleet – but ignores his previous bogus forecast the next day.
Rockerbabe
February 2nd, 2012
8:59 pm
As for Gingrey, his disrespect is fueled by his racism and hatred of anything fair. I hope the citizens in his district send him packing.
riggo
February 2nd, 2012
9:01 pm
It don’t look like the president care much about a jerk name Gingrey
Centrist
February 2nd, 2012
9:23 pm
I’m on a roll. Here are 10 common grammar errors:
10) Irregardless is not a word
9) Two, to, and too all have different meanings
7) Loose and Lose are two different words
6) Your and You’re are two different words
5) Their, They’re, and Their are actually three different words
4) Nonplus does not mean what you think it does (yea, you’re going to look it up)
3) Affect is a verb. Effect is a noun
2) It’s “I couldn’t care less.” “I could care less” actually means you care
1) “It’s” is short for “it is” and “its” means “belonging to it”
B. Thenet
February 2nd, 2012
9:28 pm
And if Obama had not even been at the National Prayer Breakfast, Gingrey would have been one of the first to attack him for his “godless ways”.
When you consider how much the GOP injects religious into politics, this little stunt by Gingrey is nothing but the kind of attention seeking behavior you would expect from a 3 year old.
Curtis Rivers
February 2nd, 2012
9:30 pm
Gingrey is not truthful to his constituents, constantly professing his desire to help people, to support ordinary folks, then voting repeatedly for corporate interests. He is not an honorable man, and his example is simply a grandstanding ploy to keep him in the good graces of those who hate Obama at all costs. His action was not the action of an honest and honorable man, but a simple political ploy…exactly what he accuses Obama of.
Old timer
February 2nd, 2012
9:36 pm
Go Gingrey
WhatAPill
February 2nd, 2012
9:37 pm
Phil Gingrey. Or is it Pill Gingrich? No difference when it comes to kids who never grew up.
Truth-O-Meter
February 2nd, 2012
9:37 pm
What Would Jesus Do? The opposite of whatever you find Republicans doing!
kreedham
February 2nd, 2012
9:39 pm
And despite all the things Gingrey has said and done the folks in his district keep sending him back. Such “maroons”
Centrist
February 2nd, 2012
9:40 pm
You bloggers aren’t fun tonight. One more mixed drink (the other word for that doesn’t pass the robo censor), and TBS reruns of The Big Bang Theory – with my significant other who is playing Words With Friends.
td
February 2nd, 2012
9:40 pm
Curtis Rivers
February 2nd, 2012
9:30 pm
You sir are not speaking the truth. Phil has been my Congressman for about 8 years, is very accessible and has voted mostly the exact way I thought he would and most the other people in his district.
Tom
February 2nd, 2012
9:43 pm
It’s absolutely hilarious that Gingrey is supposedly “a devout Catholic,” since the Roman Catholic Church officially advocates just redistribution of wealth, is anti-capital-punishment, anti-war, etc.
Jed
February 2nd, 2012
9:45 pm
While no fan of our president, I don’t see anything wrong with what he said, short of it not being common for the prayer breakfast. I mean c’mon folks, you either want the Commander-in-Chief’s religion to affect how he governs or you don’t- you can’t have it both ways.
And this kind of thing should end all the silly talk about Obama secretly being Muslim. The man considers himself a Christian, and whether God considers him that is up to God, not you. Give the man a break, maybe he’s trying to explain why his policy is the way it is (even if you don’t like it, like me).
td
February 2nd, 2012
9:46 pm
Rockerbabe
February 2nd, 2012
8:59 pm
As for Gingrey, his disrespect is fueled by his racism and hatred of anything fair. I hope the citizens in his district send him packing
I have been waiting for one of you leftest to pull out the “racist” charge. You leftest have made the charge meaningless now and we conservatives just ignore the charges.
uppity
February 2nd, 2012
9:49 pm
I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how that man is President of the United States of America! What have we become?!
td
February 2nd, 2012
9:50 pm
Jed
February 2nd, 2012
9:45 pm
While no fan of our president, I don’t see anything wrong with what he said, short of it not being common for the prayer breakfast. I mean c’mon folks, you either want the Commander-in-Chief’s religion to affect how he governs or you don’t- you can’t have it both ways.
And this kind of thing should end all the silly talk about Obama secretly being Muslim. The man considers himself a Christian, and whether God considers him that is up to God, not you. Give the man a break, maybe he’s trying to explain why his policy is the way it is (even if you don’t like it, like me
Obama is not a Muslim. He believes in Liberation Theology. Go look up the religion and you will find that it is pure Marxism and fits him to a tee.
smallmouth6
February 2nd, 2012
9:50 pm
ND: Starting this year with Obama or all the other years?
Dirty Dawg
February 2nd, 2012
9:50 pm
Goin’Right…at first I thought I’d simply tell you to kiss my royal a$$…but instead I’ll just be satisfied that you folks have got another four-plus years to show yours in your blind criticism of a ‘black’ President – it is showing, by the way – your prejudice that is.
And as for td…I was born in this state and other than my time in the service have lived here all my life…I ain’t going’ nowhere. Meanwhile I’ll have to keep on watching you folks show your a$$es and wondering how you’re going to be judged come ‘that’ day. By the way, I ain’t your damned friend.
Jed
February 2nd, 2012
9:50 pm
And Centrist,
Great grammatical points. I don’t think it’s snobbish to expect better of people, most of whom completed high school (we hope). Sure, we’re not all gifted linguists, but learn the basics, yo.
DHD
February 2nd, 2012
9:50 pm
It was sickening. I would have walked out as well.
Dennis
February 2nd, 2012
9:51 pm
Gingrey is not racist..can’t you folks see what Obama is saying? He’s preaching a Robin Hood philosophy which has nothing to do with the Bible! Jesus did not say TAKE from some who have worked hard to give to others…giving is VOLUNTARY and in obedience but is never coerced! In fact the Bible clearly states that giving should not be done under compulsion! The President is mixing socialism with the Bible which never works!!!! And I’m FAR from rich! Wake up…I’d have walked out as well..it’s slimy politics on Obama’s part, at best.
SuperB
February 2nd, 2012
9:51 pm
Phil Gingery is a loser– and has always been a loser! I thank God everyday he is NOT my congressman. What an embarrassment to the state of Georgia.
Mr. Ected
February 2nd, 2012
9:51 pm
As much as I dislike and deplore our Georgia delegation, I have to say that Obama’s comments were far more politically-intoned than any of the other addresses in the past. I’ve reviewed transcripts and the sense of detachment from policy and concentration on religion have always been far more pronounced, even with the likes of George W. Bush. While I do not disagree with President Obama’s sentiments, I believe that he opened himself up to criticism by assuming this tact.
Greg
February 2nd, 2012
9:53 pm
F-Off Gingelberry
Dennis
February 2nd, 2012
9:53 pm
Unless the rich have stolen their money from others..and that percentage is certainly small, as in the case of insider trading on Wall Street, etc..then people have VOLUNTARILY purchased products and services because they WANTED to, which in turn, has made these folks wealthy..there is NOTHING wrong with that!
SuperB
February 2nd, 2012
9:53 pm
PS: All you thumpers will never be invited to an event like this– and neither will Gingery– again. You are not– always right– even though you seem to think you are. YOU ARE NOT!
Jed
February 2nd, 2012
9:54 pm
td,
Thanks for your point. Maybe he does believe that, and I can see how he acts that way. If you’re interested, go look up the concept of the year of jubilee in regards to Judaism (and Christianity by virtue). If we lived that way, every seven years wealth would be redistributed, to some degree. That’s not a popular thought with Christians who cannot divorce their religion from their wealth (and btw, I’m not assuming to have any answers, just pointing out a system God Himself installed and gave no reason for its end …)
John
February 2nd, 2012
9:54 pm
Religion always been a part of politics. Read your history. Anybody with common sense knows that Congress runs the country. President Obama just a figure head. Anytime he tries to do for the good of the people, he either has to abide by what Congress want or programs and cuts for the rich that the Republicans want.. Blame Congress if you want to blame someone. Many of you who post on this site do not respect the President. It’s Obama or Obama Care. Guess you all forgot that this health care plan is Hillary Clinton Heath Care plan. Middle Class people better be careful who you vote for. You are not use to being poor and remember Mitt says he’s not concern about the poor. With Republicans there will be 2 class, the rich and the poor. I don’t care about the Democrats because many of them are the same as Republicans. They only worry about getting richer too. If we want a true life of freedom and rights, lets get rid of these fat cats in Congress! Ron Paul makes sense but he not rich like the other candidates. We need a miracle. Guess someone will say that a miracle doesn’t mix with politics.
bob
February 2nd, 2012
9:54 pm
Republicans down here are such a joke. They are driving this state into the ground. What an embarrassment. What sort of example do these idiot Republicans set for our kids when they act like 5 year olds, disrespecting Obama like that? I think these idiots watch way too much FOX Noise. That’s why Republicans have become so much more dangerously extreme lately. This country is in big trouble.
Not a Neal Boortz Redneck
February 2nd, 2012
9:55 pm
Praying is just Lobbying to Gawd!
Say whut
February 2nd, 2012
9:56 pm
Does anybody know how Romney really made his fortune? If so, you would not praise a ruthless venture capitalist– which is what he was.
Ashamed of our people we call Georgia representation!
February 2nd, 2012
9:56 pm
He was just rude and darn disrespectful. Not only an embarrassment for all of Georgia, but an embarrassment to what the people of the US stand on. Did not your Mother tell you to sit still during a speech or presentation and that it is rude to walk out while a grown up is speaking. Come on people! Obama did not put us in this mess. It was there when he took office. Give our President the respect he deserves.
rbd
February 2nd, 2012
9:57 pm
Surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel. Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still.
bucket
February 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm
For most of you the following equation applies: Obama = good, Republican = bad. You guys used to go absolutely crazy anytime Bush mentioned Jesus. But now it’s ok when President Obama does it. There is a biblical word for you, hypocrite!
rbd
February 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm
Will I stand in your presence, or to my knees will I fall.
Kyle
February 2nd, 2012
9:59 pm
My only question to Gingrey would be if you are a Patriot why would you be anywhere near where Obama was at in the first place.
Don Abernethy
February 2nd, 2012
10:00 pm
If Obama was the speaker I would not have attended the event.
Jed
February 2nd, 2012
10:00 pm
And my thoughts as to Gingrey walking out:
I think it’s a little rude. It would have been less so if he walked out and didn’t allow his spokeswoman to verify that he did and for what reason. We have got to grow up and learn how to deal with things we don’t like, and if Gingrey wanted to quietly slip away and not let the press catch on to it, he should have shut down communication on the fact or sat still.
As to Gingrey’s qualities, I for one think he’s a fine representative and an upstanding man. This may just not show it perfectly.
rbd
February 2nd, 2012
10:01 pm
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all.
td
February 2nd, 2012
10:01 pm
Dirty Dawg
February 2nd, 2012
9:50 pm
You can live in this great state if you choose to my friend I was just pointing out your options since you seem so unhappy. Being unhappy is not a good way to live you later years in life but if you enjoy walking away that way then who am I to argue.
As far as another 4 years, it is way to early to tell but if you listened to the CBO director today and read the Gallop article then it is not looking to good right now.
Dennis
February 2nd, 2012
10:01 pm
Obama has grown the deficit exponentially..he has not passed a budget..he passed a healthcare bill which the majority of the public did not want, by a weak,parlimentary procedure over the weekend..that’s not racist, it’s fact and it’s what HE’s done, NOT what he inherited. He also said he would fix the economy in 3 years or he would be gone, and he has NOT fixed it, so by his OWN definition (and NOT racist, again), he should be gone. He also lambasted Bush for raising the deficit on his watch and called it unpatriotic to do so, and he has FAR surpassed Bush. Facts.
This is Mrs. Norman Maine
February 2nd, 2012
10:01 pm
Phil Gingrey is a low-class cretin and yet another embarassment to the state of Georgia. He is apparently so filled with partisan hate that he couldn’t stand listen to someone profess their philosophy of helping the poor…..at a prayer breakfast nonetheless.