Thirsty Newt Gingrich. Photo: Ida Mae Astute/ABC/Getty Images

Going off the same set of credentials Eric Trump used to float Ivanka Trump as a vice-presidential candidate, on Wednesday Newt Gingrich gave Melania Trump an out for plagiarizing at least two paragraphs (albeit reportedly on accident) from one of Michelle Obama’s speeches. During an appearance on CNN, Gingrich blamed the media for blowing the whole thing out of proportion and said a “liberal Democrat” wouldn’t have met with the same blowback.

Gingrich was then asked whether Melania’s speech was a problem for the Trump campaign, to which he replied:

“Who cares? The fact is Melania gave a good speech, she is stunningly attractive, she’s stunningly articulate, [and] most of the people who are criticizing her can’t speak five languages. She’s a bright person, she introduced herself in a way that’s attractive, [and] she’s obviously very passionate about America.”

Thanks for that, Newt. Oh, and join the club.