Congressman Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat, announced he is not seeking re-election after sixteen terms in office. Known for his harsh remarks, Mr. Franks took a parting shot at former Speaker the House Newt Gingrich (h/t The Washington Post):
But he couldn’t leave without a parting shot to his former colleague, ex-House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who has suddenly become a frontrunner in the GOP presidential contest.
“I did not think I lived a good enough life to see Newt Gingrich as the Republican nominee,” Frank said Monday. “He would be the best thing to happen to Democrats since Barry Goldwater.”
Even though he announced his retirement on Monday, Frank said, he would not drop out of the political debate. “I‘m not retiring from advocacy of public policy.”“I will be neither a lobbyist or a historian,” Frank said, in another dig at Gingrich, who claimed he was hired by Freddie Mac as the latter. He said he would do “some combination of writing, teaching, and lecturing.”
It should be noted that Mr. Gingrich was one of 11 Republicans who voted against reprimanding Congressman Frank in 1990, when the Massachusetts lawmaker was caught up in a scandal for his relationship with a male prostitute. However, Gingrich’s vote may have been due to the fact that he wanted a harsher punishment for Mr. Frank that entailed a censure, which would have caused Rep. Frank to lose his committee positions.
