On the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks, politicians and news organizations took time out of their busy day to reflect on a harrowing day in U.S history. But Newt Gingrich tried something different. While some were giving their condolences, the former Speaker of the House decided to praise the ingenuity of the Japanese army during the attack.
Gingrich took to Twitter on Wednesday and commended the Japanese for their tactical brilliance during the attack and said how it was one of biggest surprise attacks in history. He may have had a larger point to make, but it caught some off guard, especially for a guy who is known for his head scratching comments. Gingrich did not provide any context for his questionable tweets or a follow up:
December 7 is a good day to remember that the world is dangerous and shattering surprise is possible even when we have been warned.
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) December 7, 2016
75 years ago the Japanese displayed professional brilliance and technological power launching surprises from Hawaii to the Philippines
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) December 7, 2016
Japanese planning and trainng let them also carry out surprise attacks in Hong Kong and Malaysia.It was widest surprise attack in history
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) December 7, 2016
It’s a bit of an odd statement to make and suffice to say, some found his tweets peculiar and let him know:
. @newtgingrich pic.twitter.com/RrC58WYzW9
— Black Lives Matter (also: women!) (@NetSematary) December 7, 2016
.@newtgingrich what the hell Newt? Who in their right mind would laud an Axis power about something like that, not to mention on this day.
— Miles Mawby (@MiMawby) December 7, 2016
America's greatest generation really appreciates your touching tribute!
— Avram Goldstein (@newsdoc) December 7, 2016
@Bro_Pair pic.twitter.com/jrCM0wksY1
— Sonar Jose (@SonarJose) December 7, 2016
This is not a parody account. This is actually Newt Gingrich. #PearlHarbor @newtgingrich https://t.co/lcDBsrquZE
— Eric Kleefeld (@EricKleefeld) December 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/Wileyatx/status/806639050404851713
didn't they flub the whole thing by not sending the final wave? Hardly excellent. Plus we replaced fleet very quickly. B minus
— David Greenberg (@DavGreenberg) December 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/gooberspa/status/806638778542493696
.@newtgingrich pic.twitter.com/r2GZpxPgrB
— JP 🧷🇺🇸 (@jjhparker) December 7, 2016
If Gingrich is looking to make himself standout on the anniversary, he sure did that. But he may have wanted to reword his tribute for one of the biggest surprise attacks in American history or perhaps offered a rebuttal to his first round of tweets.
(Via Newt Gingrich on Twitter)