Gingrich Deflects Questions About a Big Supporter’s Casino Interests

Gingrich Deflects Questions About a Big Supporter’s Casino Interests
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

WINTER PARK, Fla. — The possibility of gambling exploding across Florida has worried many on the religious right, and they questioned Newt Gingrich on Saturday about his financial backing by Sheldon Adelson, a casino magnate.

Mr. Adelson and his wife have contributed $10 million to a “super PAC” supporting Mr. Gingrich, in effect bankrolling his presidential campaign.

Before Mr. Gingrich arrived at a campaign stop here at Aloma Church, several religious leaders expressed concern about the expansion of casino gambling and the potential for the spread of problems such as substance abuse that they said often accompany gambling.

When Mr. Gingrich arrived at the event, sponsored by the Orange County Liberty Counsel Forum, he was asked whether, despite his backing by Mr. Adelson, he could “reassure” the audience that he would not encourage the spread of gambling.

Mr. Gingrich essentially dodged the question, one that is rarely asked at his public events.
At first, he responded, “At the risk of offending some of my friends who’ve been very helpful, I worry, not just about casino gambling, but about the degree to which the poor are the most likely to end up spending a large part of their income gambling.” This drew approving murmurs from the audience.

He then said that he had read articles saying that Mr. Adelson had been “very generous” to his campaign, emphasizing that he had not been briefed by Mr. Adelson, because such coordination with the super PAC supporting him would be illegal.

He then diverted the question away from Mr. Adelson’s gambling interests and toward his support for Israel, an issue of utmost concern to the religious audience.

“Sheldon Adelson’s passion in life is the survival of Israel,” Mr. Gingrich said. “And he and I are in agreement that Iran is in deep, immediate threat of posing the risk of a second Holocaust” with nuclear weapons.

And so, Mr. Gingrich said, Mr. Adelson decided, ” ‘I really want someone to be there who understands foreign policy, who understands national security’ — I was called at one time the best speaker of the House in terms of Israel that we’ve ever had because I thoroughly understand how dangerous that part of the world is.”

Mr. Gingrich concluded this way: “So I’m happy to tell you that my relationship with Sheldon is about a very specific, public thing. I believe we should be strong enough to stop the Iranians and that Israel should be allowed to exist, and I’m prepared to defend it.”

The audience gave him a big round of applause. And the gambling question was left on the table.