Gingrich returns presidential campaign to SC

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is urging Republicans in Congress not to back down from the fight with President Barack Obama over the federal debt ceiling.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered on Tuesday to hand the president powers to avert the first-ever government default threatened for Aug. 2. But during a campaign appearance in South Carolina, Gingrich said he doesn’t know what McConnell was trying to accomplish.

Gingrich told about 150 people attending a town hall meeting in North Charleston that during the 1990s, he led a fight with the Clinton administration over spending that led to two government shutdowns.

Gingrich said when it was over, the American people looked around and decided they wanted a smaller government.