Newt Gingrich got a surprise question on Tuesday. | Christina Wu for the Daily Pennsylvanian Newt confronted over affair

PHILADELPHIA — Newt Gingrich's speech at the University of Pennsylvania on Tuesday quickly took a turn for the dramatic when the first student to question him brought up his admitted extramarital affair and accused him of being “hypocritical” for espousing moral values.

"You adamantly oppose gay rights ... but you've also been married three times and admitted to having an affair with your current wife while you were still married to your second," Isabel Friedman, president of Penn Democrats, said to Gingrich. "As a successful politician who's considering running for president, who would set the bar for moral conduct and be the voice of the American people, how do you reconcile this hypocritical interpretation of the religious values that you so vigorously defend?"


Friedman, a party activist, was clearly trying to provoke and embarrass Gingrich in front of the college crowd. Gingrich, addressing about 800 at a speaker series event on the west Philadelphia campus, tried to cut off the question.

"I'll bet almost everybody here can gather the thrust of your question," he said. "I appreciate the delicacy and generosity in the way it was framed. ... I hope you feel better about yourself."

“I've had a life which, on occasion, has had problems,” he added. “I believe in a forgiving God, and the American people will have to decide whether [that's] their primary concern. If the primary concern of the American people is my past, my candidacy would be irrelevant. If the primary concern of the American people is the future ... that's a debate I'll be happy to have with your candidate or any other candidate if I decide to run."

Gingrich has admitted that he had an affair with a staffer, now his third wife, in the 1990s — when he was advocating for the impeachment of Bill Clinton in the wake of the former president’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky. A damning Esquire profile last year shed light on Gingrich's affair, as well as another one he had with his second wife while still married to his first. While the source of Gingrich’s heckling Tuesday was a Democrat, it nevertheless underscored the trouble many Republicans expect him to face with skeptical religious conservatives in Iowa if he ultimately decides to run for president.

Other students loudly criticized Gingrich's lack of commitment to funding for AIDS research, waving signs that said "Global AIDS Budget Cuts Kill" and yelling as they walked out of the event while he was still speaking.

In an interview with POLITICO, Gingrich reiterated his support for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's attempts to curb collective bargaining for government workers, and said he has been in touch with Walker, for whom he campaigned last year.

"Walker's not going to back off an inch, and he's going to win," Gingrich said.

Gingrich confirmed he’ll make a final decision about whether to run in the next couple weeks, saying he expects to make an announcement in early March.