Thursday April 17, 2003; 7:55 p.m. EDT
Gingrich: Clinton Suffers From 'Victory Envy'
Ex-President Bill Clinton can't resist criticizing President Bush almost every chance he gets because he's suffering from an acute case of "victory envy."
So says former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who discussed the phenomenon of the continually carping ex-president Wednesday with nationally syndicated radio host Sean Hannity.
"President Clinton suffers from a very bad case of victory envy," the one-time top Republican contended, before defining the term.
"Victory envy is when you're a loser and you didn't have any victories and now you see a guy who did it for real. And you realize that after all your puny Tomahawk missiles and your puny midnight or 2 a.m. attacks on the information building - I mean, all the different pathetic things that President Clinton did in foreign policy - suddenly you see what a real commander-in-chief and a real president is like."
"I think President Clinton can't take it," Gingrich explained. "I think he's being so critical and so harsh because it drives him a little nutty to see what a real commander-in-chief who really understands the presidency and who's really prepared to stand up and defend America is doing."
The architect of the GOP's 1994 congressional takeover differentiated between recent criticism of Bush leveled by ex-President Carter and Clinton's running commentary from the sidelines.
"Carter has consistently been for weakness and ineffectiveness in foreign policy his whole career," he told Hannity. "But there is some integrity there."
For Clinton, the former Speaker contended, "it's personal."
"He failed. He didn't get the job done. He didn't get rid of Saddam. He didn't get rid of bin Laden," Gingrich noted. "George W. Bush is doing the job and I think that it drives Bill Clinton nuts to see the difference between his performance and President Bush."
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Gingrich: Clinton Suffers From 'Victory Envy'
Ex-President Bill Clinton can't resist criticizing President Bush almost every chance he gets because he's suffering from an acute case of "victory envy."
So says former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who discussed the phenomenon of the continually carping ex-president Wednesday with nationally syndicated radio host Sean Hannity.
"President Clinton suffers from a very bad case of victory envy," the one-time top Republican contended, before defining the term.
"Victory envy is when you're a loser and you didn't have any victories and now you see a guy who did it for real. And you realize that after all your puny Tomahawk missiles and your puny midnight or 2 a.m. attacks on the information building - I mean, all the different pathetic things that President Clinton did in foreign policy - suddenly you see what a real commander-in-chief and a real president is like."
"I think President Clinton can't take it," Gingrich explained. "I think he's being so critical and so harsh because it drives him a little nutty to see what a real commander-in-chief who really understands the presidency and who's really prepared to stand up and defend America is doing."
The architect of the GOP's 1994 congressional takeover differentiated between recent criticism of Bush leveled by ex-President Carter and Clinton's running commentary from the sidelines.
"Carter has consistently been for weakness and ineffectiveness in foreign policy his whole career," he told Hannity. "But there is some integrity there."
For Clinton, the former Speaker contended, "it's personal."
"He failed. He didn't get the job done. He didn't get rid of Saddam. He didn't get rid of bin Laden," Gingrich noted. "George W. Bush is doing the job and I think that it drives Bill Clinton nuts to see the difference between his performance and President Bush."
Read more on this subject in related
