“We clearly need three patterns dealing with Islamist terrorism for people seeking to get into America, those with green cards, for citizens,” Newt Gingrich said. Gingrich admits 'impossible' to deport Muslim American citizens

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted it was "impossible" to deport U.S. citizens, following media pushback to his call to deport Muslims who believe in sharia law.

“With an American citizen, deportation is impossible. It’s not appropriate under the Constitution and there, historically we’ve always said, if you fought against the United States, that the correct answer were basically jail as opposed to deportation," he told his Facebook Live audience on Friday. "I think we have to talk through what should be the right way of handling people who are here, but are not citizens."


Speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday night, Gingrich declared that the terrorist attack in Nice, France, that killed more than 80 people and left 50 more critically injured was an act of “war.” He then suggested, “We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background and if they believe in sharia they should be deported.”

Gingrich, who had been on Donald Trump's shortlist as a possible running mate, tweeted Friday morning that there had been “[a]mazing distortions” of his statements, adding that he would address the “issue of sharia” in a Facebook video chat later in the morning.

“We clearly need three patterns dealing with Islamist terrorism for people seeking to get into America, those with green cards, for citizens,” Gingrich added.

Gingrich clarified his statements on Friday in the livestream, after accusing the media of going into "hysteria overnight," saying law-abiding citizens had "nothing to fear."

"This is not about targeting a particular religion or targeting people who practice in a particular way," he said. "We’re not saying that you have to give up core believes, we are saying that you have to decide to become an American in order to migrate to America."

Rep. Keith Ellison, one of just two Muslim members of Congress, condemned Gingrich’s remarks, insisting that he knew better and that what he said was “calculating, pandering, and it’s really sad.”

Ellison explained Friday that there is more than one form of sharia, noting that the interpretation of Islamic law “varies from time to time, and from place to place.”

“In fact, fasting [during] Ramadan is sharia, by the way,” Ellison told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” adding, “so that’s the problem with what Newt Gingrich is saying. He’s talking about violent attacks on innocent people. That is what we all must condemn. We have to engage everyone to stop this kind of thing. And that means whether you’re Muslim, Christian, Jew, whatever you are, we have to confront it.”

Co-host Mika Brzezinski then remarked, “What frightens me about his comments is that I think he knows better.”

“He does know better. That’s the sad thing about Newt Gingrich,” Ellison said. “He’s a very smart man. It’s just calculating, pandering, and it’s really sad.”

Asked by CNN’s Chris Cuomo whether Gingrich’s comments in the wake of the attack were disqualifying, Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort maintained that he was unaware of what Gingrich said.

“I just told you what he said. That’s what he said,” Cuomo shot back.

Even so, Manafort asserted that he didn’t know the context surrounding the comments but said “the point is the country has got serious problems dealing with terrorism, both domestic and international.”

“Leadership is failing, and Donald Trump is gonna take a holistic approach to how we focus on these things, and he’s not going to allow disparate activities in the communities to define everything,” he added. “So whether it’s in the Muslim communities or in the Italian communities, my hometown, or other communities, he’s saying we have to have leadership, we have to be cognizant of the problems going on in the country, and we have to make sure that people coming into the country are known for who they are — not just wholesale allowed in.”

Since Gingrich's remarks, Trump has picked Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate. The presumptive Republican nominee announced the decision in a tweet on Friday morning in a move that adds an established, mainstream conservative politician to his unconventional bid for president. He said he would make the official announcement in a news conference on Saturday morning.