Newt: I Shouldn't Have Said 'Racist'

On May 27th, Newt Gingrich wrote on his Twitter feed, "White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw."

Today, Gingrich backs away from those comments on his website, Newt.org:

"My initial reaction was strong and direct -- perhaps too strong and too direct. The sentiment struck me as racist and I said so. Since then, some who want to have an open and honest consideration of Judge Sotomayor's fitness to serve on the nation's highest court have been critical of my word choice.

"With these critics who want to have an honest conversation, I agree. The word "racist" should not have been applied to Judge Sotomayor as a person, even if her words themselves are unacceptable (a fact which both President Obama and his Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, have since admitted)."

In his essay today, Gingrich does stick by his original theory, however, that Sotomayor relies on identity politics more than the rule of law to decide her cases, linking Sotomayor's speech, "A Latina Judge's Voice," as evidence.

Gingrich's original use of the word "racist" hung in the air on Capitol Hill yesterday, with his fellow Republicans denouncing the heated language, and Democrats saying attacks on Sotomayor, including calling her a racist, leave them no choice but to speed her confirmation process so that she can respond to the charges against her in public hearings.